Tuesday, 30 May 2023

Housing affordability

Tim READ (Brunswick) (14:18): My question is for the Premier. We are reading now that the average renter is spending more than 30 per cent of their income on rent, but for low-income earners it is more than 50 per cent of their income. Rents are now so high that it is driving renters into poverty, into financial stress. We need first aid because rents are going up all the time and people are haemorrhaging money. So will the government intervene now with a rent freeze in anticipation of a more considered strategy for housing?

Daniel ANDREWS (Mulgrave – Premier) (14:19): I thank the member for Brunswick for his question, and I will make it clear at the outset that I in no way want to cast any doubt or aspersions on the member’s genuine interest in these matters. They are serious matters and matters that the government has looked at very closely – that is, residential tenancy matters in broader terms; I will get to the specifics of his question in a moment. But I am obliged to point out that it is very hard to take people seriously when it comes to housing affordability, particularly those who are in rental stress, when fellow members of a particular political party have time and time again campaigned against and in fact actively disrupted and prevented the construction of additional social and affordable housing.

The SPEAKER: Order! I ask the Premier to resume his seat.

Daniel ANDREWS: You cannot say one thing at town hall and another thing at Spring Street.

Tim Read: On a point of order, Speaker, I am sure renters around Victoria would like to hear the question answered rather than an analysis of federal politics.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order.

Daniel ANDREWS: No, I had not got to federal politics just yet, but I will get to that in a moment. It is always good when you get a sup – I will have another go and get to the feds in a minute. What I was actually referring to was, for instance, back in 2017, City of Darebin Greens councillors stopping social and affordable housing in that local community. I could talk about the Yarra City Council, the many, many different examples of Greens-dominated local government –

Tim Read: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, I will not repeat the question, but we have gone to another tier of government now. If the Premier is attributing the rental crisis to the Greens, he is giving us more power than I think we have got.

Daniel ANDREWS: The supply of housing is absolutely critical to the price that people pay for it. The member from Brunswick pointed out in his learned opinion renters would want to know this and renters would want to know that. I think renters would want to know who is actually on their side and who is pretending to be on their side, who has actually done some things – say, 100-odd amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act – and who is merely a commentator. Then when they get the rarest of gifts, actual control over policy and outcomes, and I admit that is not in this level of government but at local government and in the Senate in Canberra, they have actively, consistently, deliberately, maliciously constrained the supply of housing, particularly affordable housing. So I make it really clear to the member –

Ellen Sandell: On a point of order, Speaker, the Premier is deliberately misleading the house. I ask you to bring him back to the question, which was about rent freezes.

The SPEAKER: Order! That is not a point of order, member for Melbourne.

Daniel ANDREWS: The points of order are absolutely proportionate to the hypocrisy of some. Take as many points of order as you want, but you will not wash away the record of the Greens political party when it comes to affordable housing, whether it be public housing, social housing or affordable housing in a broader context. No-one on this side of the house is going to be lectured to about renting, about renters rights, about housing affordability, about supply by a political party that at every turn stands in the way of more affordable housing for the poorest in our community.

Tim READ (Brunswick) (14:23): During the pandemic this government implemented a freeze on rents, a very appropriate response at a time of considerable stress. I submit that we are now facing a time of considerable stress for renters. Why won’t the government do the same thing again?

Daniel ANDREWS (Mulgrave – Premier) (14:24): I am very pleased that the member for Brunswick has acknowledged that the government stepped in during a one-in-100-year event. Here was I, thinking that it was all because of the Greens political party. I think they have been out there telling the world that it was all because of them. So –

Sam Hibbins: It was.

Daniel ANDREWS: Oh, it was, apparently. Good on you, Sammy. What was that, Sammy, you were just telling us about the stories we tell ourselves? Was that what you interjected before? Goodness, story time is right – honestly.

There are some people who do, there are some people who get things done, and there are other people who sit in the cheap seats claiming credit for all that is good and running a mile from everything that is challenging. Anything good? It was only because of the Greens. Anything tough? You look around, cannot find them. This is a Labor government, and we will continue delivering for the most vulnerable and indeed every single Victorian. We thank the Greens for their commentary, but you have stopped more housing than you have built, and we will not be taking lectures from you.

The SPEAKER: I ask members to refer to other members by their correct titles.