North-Eastern Metropolitan Region
Nicholas McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:49): (32) My question is to the Minister for Housing. I had the good fortune yesterday to visit the independent living units at St Vincent’s Care Services in Eltham. They received news last week that St Vincent’s Care will begin a process of further decommissioning of the residents’ village. Some 52 people have been advised that by the end of this year, that is in the next 10 months, they will be required to leave their homes and find a home elsewhere. This issue is particularly concerning because a large number of those 52 people speak Arabic, not just English. I am most concerned, as they are, that they will be turfed out of their homes; they will have nowhere to go. These are refugees from Syria and Iraq and some Australian-born citizens, and I would like to bring to the house’s attention the fact that, should these people be tossed out and not given appropriate services, there will be very dire consequences for the people concerned.