Tuesday, 1 April 2025

Housing

Anasina GRAY-BARBERIO (Northern Metropolitan) (12:47): (876) My question is to the minister for housing. Minister, the red-brick public housing towers on Nicholson Street in Carlton are being demolished. The government previously committed to rebuilding these with government owned and run public housing, not social or community housing. However, the community has recently noticed that the government’s language has changed and public communications now only talk about social housing, not public housing. Minister, can you please confirm that the red-brick towers in Carlton will definitely be replaced with 100 per cent state-run public housing, not any other form of housing?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:48): Thanks, Ms Gray-Barberio, for that question. Since I was honoured to take on the portfolio of housing, I have worked really hard to make sure that social housing is understood for exactly what it is – namely, housing that provides long-term, safe, secure, dignified, accessible, energy-efficient and low-cost housing for people who are on the housing register, the housing waitlist.

Social housing can be divided into two categories: public housing and community housing. Community housing is delivered by not-for-profit, for-purpose charitable organisations who receive a GST exemption in exchange for their status as charitable organisations and provide housing to people in need. They include organisations like Women’s Housing and Aboriginal Housing Victoria. What I want to do is to make sure that in all of the information I give to you I am not inviting any conclusion to be made by anybody in this place or elsewhere that the housing that is provided by our community housing providers is in any way inferior to any other species of housing. I also want to make it clear that when we talk about social housing and we talk about residents, that is exactly what tenants are – they are residing in their homes.

We have been really clear about the Carlton red-brick towers. These are towers which have been vacant for a really long period of time, and they have been subject to extensive community engagement and consultation, including reconfiguration of the number of bedrooms in a number of those homes. These are buildings which had sewage in the walls. Thanks to the partnership with the Albanese Labor government and that $679 million to build around 769 additional social housing homes, we have been able to partner with Canberra for the first time – after nine years of ignorance from people who needed to make an investment into social housing – to make sure that the red-brick towers are able to be replaced with housing.

I have answered the question before: residents in this housing, as it is rebuilt and redeveloped, will be delivered that housing through the social housing accelerator program. The federal minister has made it clear – I have made it clear – it is public housing, but let us be really clear: community housing has its place; it is housing that provides people with an opportunity to reach their potential, to get access and inreach and support around them that they need and that they deserve. Please do not take anything from anything that I ever say about social housing to indicate that community housing is not of incredible importance in making sure that we can provide homes for those people on the housing waitlist.

Anasina GRAY-BARBERIO (Northern Metropolitan) (12:51): Minister, I agree with you that community housing does have its place, but are you saying that even though the government previously committed that this will be state-run public housing now you are saying it might actually not be public? So are you going back on your government’s previous commitment?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:51): Ms Gray-Barberio, I literally just answered your supplementary question in my answer to the substantive question. I have said it in this place before, I have said it publicly and Minister Clare O’Neil has said it publicly in a range of other forums that the red-brick towers are going to be delivered as public housing, but they are part of a broader mix in social housing that is intended to provide residents with the dignity of a home that meets their needs with long-term tenancy and with the operation and cover of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997. We want to make sure also that when we talk about this we are not inviting conclusions that seek to demonise one species of housing as being less fit for purpose than another. Ms Gray-Barberio, the former leader of your party in this place has been releasing materials that refer to the Greens having delivered public and community housing – that is somewhat of an about-face given the Greens’ infamous use of taking credit for things and that all of a sudden community housing is not quite the terrible thing that you once said it was.