Housing
Will FOWLES (Ringwood) (14:19): My question is to the Premier. Victoria is facing an unprecedented housing crisis. Around the world governments are recognising that housing is not just an aspiration, it is a fundamental human right. Countries like South Africa, Canada and Finland have enshrined this principle in law, with specific actions to guarantee housing for all citizens. In the UK local councils have legal duties to prevent homelessness. Tasmania has recognised housing as a human right through the Homes Tasmania Act. What is the government’s position on including housing as a human right in Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities?
Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:20): In thanking the member for Ringwood for his question, I will say to the member for Ringwood we have no plans to amend the human rights charter. But what we do have plans for is getting on with addressing the issue he raised right now with the actions we are taking right now to get more homes built. Just two weeks ago, with the Minister for Planning and the Minister for Housing and Building, we announced a range of new and additional initiatives on how we get on and build more homes here in Victoria, remembering of course that I know national data has been released today that shows as a nation we still do have a way to go in terms of building enough homes but that Victoria is leading the nation as the place that is building, completing and approving more homes than any other state.
But I do acknowledge that there is more to be done to get on and build more homes, and part of that work is identifying those barriers and blockers that have been in the way, in some instances for decades, which have stopped the building of more homes. That is why we will be introducing, through Plan for Victoria, housing targets for every local government area so we have even growth across the state, to make sure that regardless of where you are you have the opportunity, if you want to live in your local area, to find a home in your local area and to make sure it is supported by infrastructure that supports your growing community. Whether it is the rewrite of the Planning and Environment Act or whether it is the work that we are doing to put more homes in activity centres in great locations – we now have 60 activity centres. Indeed the Ringwood area was one of the first 10 activity centres that we identified where we could build more homes close to public transport, close to train stations, in exactly the right location. So it does not matter if you are in Ringwood or in any part of the state, you will be able to find a home, and particularly it might be where you grew up and you just want to live near your mum or dad or family as you start your own family. That is just some of the work we are doing. We are making it easier to build townhouses and small second dwellings – a range of activities.
We are getting on and building more homes. But I do acknowledge that there is more to do, and we will continue to work on bringing new initiatives and new actions to be able to build more homes here in Victoria.
Will FOWLES (Ringwood) (14:23): The Premier has outlined a whole range of activities. My supplementary question for the Premier is: given all of that activity, given that this change is relatively minor in terms of its legislative complexity, given the importance of the symbolism of it and given that it will influence government decision-making for years, if not generations, ahead, why isn’t it on the government’s program?
Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:23): I think I answered the supplementary question in the substantive answer – because we are getting on with what we can do right now. Rather than a change that may take some time, we are focused on actions that we are taking right now. They include, when it does come to legislative change, looking at how we can embed these principles of building more homes in our Planning and Environment Act. But knowing that we need to take action now is why Ringwood was one of the first 10 activity centres. It has already been through the process. The planning scheme process has been concluded, and we can now get on and see more homes being built around an activity centre, which, as I said before, is exactly the right location to be building more homes: close to jobs, close to services and close to great public transport.