Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

My electorate of Melbourne has more public housing than any other electorate in the country. Public housing is full of vibrant communities and great people who help to make Melbourne such a great place to live. I cannot imagine Melbourne without the contribution of its many residents living in public housing. But the public housing system is in crisis. People living in public housing in my electorate face poor maintenance and inadequate government action on safety. Waiting lists are out of control. With rising house prices putting private rental out of reach, over 34,000 people are on the public housing waiting list in Victoria. People in desperate need of secure housing are facing waiting times of many years. And the number of people on the urgent waiting list has increased under the state Andrews Labor government. After 12 months of inaction from state Labor, it is time for urgent action to fix public housing.

Since I was elected in 2010, around 600 people have approached me in my office for assistance with public housing. More people come to me for help with public housing than for any other issue. Most people who come to me are either experiencing homelessness or living in inappropriate housing and are in urgent need of a secure home in public housing. But, because governments have failed to invest in public housing, people facing a housing crisis are told that they just have to wait.

Over half of the complaints I have raised with the Victorian government are about overcrowding. Hundreds of Melbourne residents have come to me because their families are forced to live in apartments that were designed for many fewer people. In just the last two weeks, my office and that of my state colleague Ellen Sandell have spoken with at least eight families who are living in overcrowded apartments in Melbourne. In one case, eight people were living in a two-bedroom apartment. In another, 10 people making up two families were living together in a three-bedroom apartment—all because one of these families had nowhere else to go but the street. This is a common occurrence—people who are otherwise homeless being forced to couch surf or rely on the goodwill of people who are in some form of secure housing. How are children supposed to do their homework in such a crowded apartment? What happens when a child becomes sick, when there are eight people living in a two-bedroom apartment?

Other Melbourne constituents are facing health problems because crowded apartments are poorly ventilated and developing mould. Doctors have told me that children have developed asthma because of these conditions. We are making our children sick because of the conditions in public housing. But when my constituents seek a transfer to a home that is safe for their family, they are told that they will be waiting for up to 10 years. Meanwhile, public areas are neglected. Lifts break down, forcing residents to climb to their apartment—in some cases 20 storeys! Systems to collect rubbish have failed, leading to poor hygiene. Rats and other pests are found in buildings. When I walk through the flats in Flemington near my house I see the rats, especially at dusk, scurrying off to get into the drains. There have been stories of floods in buildings and burst pipes that were left unaddressed.

With no air conditioning for most residents, in summer, temperatures in these concrete block apartments soar above 50 degrees, and it can stay hot—above 30 or 40 degrees overnight—because the buildings retain the heat. During the 2014 heatwave, many Flemington residents came down and slept on the nearby oval because their houses were too hot. Residents tell me about their safety fears in public spaces and about people visiting estates to buy and use drugs. One four-year-old child pricked her hand on a syringe left among sheets in a laundry basin. She had to undergo a blood test to confirm she had not contracted a disease.

Residents in Melbourne's public housing have been let down by Liberal and Labor. For too long, governments have failed to invest in maintenance, security and new public housing stock. Instead of investing in the public housing we need, Liberal and Labor governments have sold off public housing assets or areas to private developers, leaving fewer public housing homes on smaller areas of land and forcing some residents to leave their community. Now, one year on from the election of the Labor government in Victoria, things are getting worse for public housing residents, not better. After 12 months and no action, it is not good enough to blame previous governments. The Andrews Labor government must take responsibility.

The Greens have a plan to fix public housing and a plan for housing affordability. We will create a fund to support resident-driven security measures and build more public housing. It is time to fix it. Labor, let us see some action.

See this speech in context