Wednesday, 16 October 2024

Housing

Richard RIORDAN (Polwarth) (14:33): My question is to the Premier. A leaked report shows that between June and December 2023 the number of public homes managed by Homes Victoria –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the House!

Richard RIORDAN: Start again?

The SPEAKER: Yes.

Richard RIORDAN: Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. A leaked report shows that between June and December 2023 the number of public homes managed by Homes Victoria fell by an incredible 446. Why has this government failed to build extra public housing, as promised?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:34): I thank the member for Polwarth for his question and his hasty rewrite after the Greens nicked the question he was actually going to ask. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to talk about our ongoing investment that we are making in building more public and social and affordable homes in Victoria. The member for Polwarth asked me a question about data.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The minister will leave the chamber for half an hour. The member for Frankston is warned again.

Minister for Employment withdrew from chamber.

Richard Riordan: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, I was not seeking the Premier to rehash her failed housing statement, I was looking for the reasons for her inability to fulfil the housing statement.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Sunbury can leave the chamber for half an hour.

Member for Sunbury withdrew from chamber.

Mary-Anne Thomas: On the point of order, Speaker, there is no point of order. The Premier has been on her feet for less than 30 seconds. She was being directly relevant to the question. I ask that you rule the point of order out of order and that you ask the member to sit in his place and listen to the answer.

The SPEAKER: Order! Thank you for your advice, Leader of the House. Member for Polwarth, the Premier has had just over 30 seconds to answer. We will give her an opportunity to answer the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: As I was saying before the member for Polwarth made his point of order, I was referring to the member for Polwarth’s question. He asked me about data, and I am delighted to be able to share with the member for Polwarth. This is real data, not fake data, just so we are clear for the benefit of the member for Polwarth. We are talking about real homes for real tenants, not fake patients in Polwarth, just to be clear. As part of our Big Housing Build of investment, and this is building homes right across the state, under the program to date 10,000 homes are underway or complete and nearly 5000 households have moved into brand new homes. We are working hard at every stage and at every level to build more public, social and affordable homes and work with the private sector.

If the member for Polwarth wants to grab an opportunity, we have been given some invitations today from some people opposite looking for some friends. They have reached out across the aisle looking for some friends. They need some support. I say this to the member for Polwarth: come on board and say to your colleagues, ‘Stop blocking housing projects.’ Come on board. If the member for Polwarth is fair dinkum about supporting our efforts to build more social, affordable and public housing –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, the Premier is debating the question.

The SPEAKER: I do not uphold that point of order, but the Premier will come back to the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: I was referring to the member for Polwarth’s apparent interest in building more social, affordable and public homes –

A member interjected.

Jacinta ALLAN: extra, absolutely – which is why I hope the member for Polwarth has raised with the Leader of the Opposition his opposition to public and affordable housing in his electorate and with the member for Brighton, who opposed projects in his electorate –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, the Premier is clearly debating the question.

Mary-Anne Thomas: On the point of order, Speaker, there is no point of order. The Premier was being directly relevant to the question. She was not debating the question. She was responding to the issues that were raised by the member for Polwarth, and I ask that you rule the Manager of Opposition Business’s point of order out of order.

The SPEAKER: I ask the Premier to come back to the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: I thank the member for Polwarth for the opportunity to remind him and the house of the ongoing investment that we are making in building more homes across Victoria, and I would hope that with his new-found passion for this policy area he comes on board and opposes those in his own party room – you have been doing a bit of that lately – who try and block these efforts.

Richard RIORDAN (Polwarth) (14:39): Property Investment Professionals of Australia chair Nicola McDougall said:

Rather than sneakily siphoning properties out of the private rental market to fix a quagmire of its own making, the Allan government should instead start addressing the fundamental reasons why investors are selling up in droves, which is its new land tax regime …

Why is Labor so incompetent at building public homes that it has to crowd out the private rental market in order to fix its shortfall?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:40): The member for Polwarth is wrong, and it again demonstrates that you just cannot trust the member for Polwarth and the Liberal Party when it comes to building more homes for more Victorians. You just cannot trust them. He has not condemned those fake patients in Polwarth, and we will see that he has not condemned his own Leader of the Opposition.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, the Premier is again debating the question and just being nasty.

The SPEAKER: The Premier answered the question at the beginning. I ask the Premier to come back to the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: Even Bev McArthur thinks the Liberal Party has a problem with women, and you have just demonstrated it once again, my friend. We are getting on –

Members interjecting.

Jacinta ALLAN: As if we needed any more evidence. We are going to get on and build more homes. You cannot trust those opposite, but Victorians know they can trust us to build more homes.

The SPEAKER: I am really disappointed in the disrespectful behaviour to members on their feet today. Member for Polwarth, do you think that is funny? I would like you to apologise.

Richard Riordan: I apologise.