Thursday, 31 October 2024

Ministers statements: housing workforce

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (12:20): I want to commend our hardworking housing officers and Homes Victoria relocation staff. They are working so hard to make sure that residents have the correct information when it comes to Australia’s largest urban renewal project, the redevelopment of Melbourne’s 44 old high-rise towers. Housing office staff take a great deal of pride in the work they do with residents. Many of them are actually part of the communities that they serve, and many of them have been doing this work for decades. Since the announcement of the relocation process commencing for the towers in Flemington, in North Melbourne and now for the towers and walk-ups at 139 Highett SHighett Street in Richmond and 259 Malvern Road in South Yarra, our hardworking staff continue to run regular pop-ups in the foyers of the old towers, to have information trolleys moving around the estates every Friday between 10 and 12 and to engage in one-on-one conversations with residents, including with interpreters and legal representatives or support people as they require them, through phone calls, texts and doorknocks and of course over a cup of tea and a bickie. It has been a privilege to visit with and talk with the housing staff and Homes Vic staff who are making this happen.

This is hardly the harassment that has been alleged in various stuntmongering activities being undertaken. We have seen on multiple occasions that there has been an effort to capitalise on the fear that vulnerable residents have in the face of change, not just as it occurs in this context but change at large, which is often a very confronting thing for all of us. This is not about politics or about gaining Instagram likes, it is actually about making sure that people are empowered and able to access the information that they need to be able to make decisions that work for them. Housing officers and Homes Vic staff work so hard to provide that care that people deserve and will continue to do so now and into the future. My thanks and respect to them.