Public housing
Gabrielle DE VIETRI (Richmond) (14:26): My question is for the Premier. Before leaving, the former Premier announced that the Victorian Labor government would demolish all 44 of our public housing towers, displacing thousands and thousands of residents and sending this housing crisis into overdrive. With a new leadership team in place, will the Premier now wind back this disastrous plan to demolish and privatise public housing and instead build public housing, not private housing, on public land?
Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:27): I thank the member for Richmond for her question, but the answer is no. I am not going to wind back the decision to undertake Australia’s largest urban renewal program to give people who need affordable public, social and community housing options the dignity of a roof over their head. So no, member for Richmond. And also I say to the member for Richmond and her colleagues: instead of being in for the fight, join us in fixing these issues, because when you think about these 44 towers – and I know my colleagues work closely with people who live in those public housing towers – you know that they are needing to be replaced. We know that people who live in those homes need not just the dignity of a roof over their head but the dignity of a modern, energy-efficient and secure roof over their head. That is why we have not just committed through the biggest urban renewal program in the country to replace these 44 ageing towers, we have moved straightaway with the first five that will be worked on. We have announced those as part of the work that was done by the former fabulous housing minister, who sits here in this place. The first tranche will acquit those.
But do you know what, we are not just replacing these aging towers with new, modern homes, we are going to increase the number of homes on these sites – substantially increase by 10 per cent the social housing available at these sites, taking it from 10,000 people who currently live across these towers to 30,000 people who can have the dignity of having a roof over their head. We know we have to look at doing everything we can to give more Victorians the opportunity to have the dignity of a roof over their head, the dignity of a place to sleep at night. The urban renewal program through the replacement of these 44 towers presents a really big and valuable opportunity to not just build more homes but to build more social and affordable homes for Victorians. And I repeat: instead of running around leafleting the towers with a scare campaign, you would be better off joining us in this task and showing people in public housing that you respect them and that you give them the respect and the dignity of wanting to support them to have a more modern, secure, affordable home – and that is exactly what the government will be doing as part of this program.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Richmond will be heard without assistance.
Gabrielle DE VIETRI (Richmond) (14:30): Premier, just yesterday the new housing minister confirmed that 95 per cent of the additional development on this land will be given over to private developers for expensive private development and that by 2051, once this plan is complete, we will only have an additional 440 social homes. That is 15 social homes per year until 2051 when right now there are 125,000 people on the public housing waiting list desperate for a home – and that number is growing every year. Any plan that starts with the wholesale demolition of 6700 public homes in a housing crisis is bound to make that crisis worse. Premier, in what world is this an appropriate response to the housing crisis?
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: The member for Sunbury can leave the chamber for half an hour. The member for Nepean can leave the chamber for half an hour.
Members for Sunbury and Nepean withdrew from chamber.
Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:31): In what world would you oppose affordable housing? I will tell the member for Richmond in what world: it is the world in which Greens councillors in the City of Darebin have opposed affordable housing and Greens councillors in the City of Merri-bek have not supported affordable housing, and we have seen here in this place –
A member: Yarra.
Jacinta ALLAN: Oh, yes, sorry, let us not forget Greens councillors in the City of Yarra. Let us not forget the City of Yarra or that also in this place we have seen the Greens political party team up with the Liberal political party to oppose affordable housing at the Markham estate. That is the world that the member for Richmond may want to inhabit; it is not this world where we need to get on and build more homes and particularly build more social and affordable homes so people have the dignity of a roof over their head.