South-Eastern Metropolitan Region
Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (14:15): My electorate office is on the Princes Highway in Dandenong, and I am constantly upset by the sight of homeless people. Many appear to be new migrants with limited English skills. My question is to the Minister for Housing, and I ask: Minister, since there are over 2000 Greater Dandenong residents who are homeless, which means they are sleeping rough with no stable place to live, can you assure Dandenong council that the government’s recent commitments to increasing the stock of housing – including fast-tracking access to new greenfield sites within the urban growth boundaries, stamp duty concessions to encourage investment in new developments and unlocking of government-owned land near train stations – are not just pre-election rhetorical statements of misinformation. Since the last census homelessness has increased by 53.7 per cent in Dandenong, with Dandenong noted as having the greatest number of homeless people in Victoria: 2366 homeless people have been recorded in this area.