Ministers statements: regional housing
Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:06): I am pleased to talk about the Labor government’s $1 billion investment in regional housing, delivering more homes to make housing more affordable across regional Victoria, when you consider that in the 2050s more than 2.3 million people will call our fabulous regions home. More and more people are coming to see that the regions are a great place to live and work, whether you are like our fabulous members from Geelong, who choose to live in our state’s second biggest city, or whether you choose to live in the beautiful parts of western Victoria like the member for Ripon and the members from Ballarat, or indeed, Speaker, like you and me in parts of Bendigo, everyone in regional Victoria deserves the dignity of quality, affordable homes in their community. That is why the government is making this critical investment on top of the $5 billion-plus investment through the Big Housing Build. The dedicated $1 billion Regional Housing Fund will deliver more than 1300 social and affordable homes for regional communities. Recently there were some new announcements made as part of the first tranche of projects to be supported through this fund. Through this fund there will be 50 new homes in Colac and 50 new homes in Wodonga, which I am sure the member for Benambra is pleased to hear. There are also 70 new homes in Shepparton, Seymour and Rochester, which is critically important for these communities that are rebuilding following the floods that occurred in those communities just a year ago. There is a lot to do. There is a lot to continue to build on through the investment in schools and homes, and we are doing that through this dedicated investment in housing for regional Victorians.