Page 3364 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 21 August 2018
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pay the rent in this lopsided rental market, when you are talking to people, Madam Speaker, who have been sleeping in their car, it is tough to say to these people, “Don’t worry, the housing minister has got a plan. She’s been working on something for the last 18 months; they’ve had a big talkfest. Just hang on in there a little longer, because all the answers are coming. Her party has been working on the answers for 17 years, and I’m sure, if you just rug up and get through this winter, you’ll be fine.”
I often wonder what ACT Labor stands for in 2018. I get asked this question often, usually by former Labor voters. They say to me, “What does my party stand for now? It’s certainly not the downtrodden. It’s not the people on the margins. It’s not the workers. Who is it? Is it developers? Is it the CFMMEU? I don’t know.”
Time and again, these questions come out of the housing portfolio. The Chief Minister got all fired up during question time last week and made all of these ridiculous, theatrical accusations about us evil Liberals and why we got into politics. When you consider that this government has been in place since 2001, it beggars belief that we cleared the policy decks and seemingly started from scratch in the policymaking space in housing with this summit last spring. Now all of our eggs are in this basket and we are waiting for the silver bullets to come flying our way.
Those in the sector do not believe that there will be silver bullets. There will be much denial—denial like the sort of denial that we see from this minister, who continually refers to the ABS homeless figures from the ACT that magically show that we are winning the battle. Everybody knows that there are more rough sleepers in the city than there were last year. It does not matter what the ABS figures show you; that is not what is actually happening on the ground. Everybody knows that front-line homelessness services are under siege.
I do note—and Ms Le Couteur mentioned it—that there is an increase in funding to those front-line homelessness services. But it is not enough. The government talks about housing affordability but it does not do enough to genuinely move forward in that space. The actual budget allocation to deal with the problem is laughable. And it is not just us saying it; it is the Greens saying it, it is—dare I mention his name again?—the Jon Stanhopes of the world that are saying it. It is being said by many in the sector.
I understand that there are increases in homelessness services, but those increases are not keeping up with demand. Where would we be without Vinnies, the Salvos, UnitingCare, St John’s Care, Reclink, and many others? It should not be up to these community organisations—many of whom, I must say, are in part funded by our community clubs—to fix the mess created by 17 years of Labor-Greens policy in this space.
It is not necessarily policy in this space. Mr Coe and Ms Lawder went to great lengths earlier to talk about the land release program and how intrinsically linked it is to housing stress. With all that said, I must also refer to the announcements today from the minister on the first round of funding for affordable housing innovation arising from the housing and homelessness summit. I commend the minister and her directorate for having the courage to look outside the square. I understand there were
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