Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—This report on homelessness in Australia is very much a missed opportunity, in many ways, although I must say that the work of the chair, the member for Fisher, and the deputy chair has been remarkable. They are two of the hardest-working members of this House. I thank them and my parliamentary colleagues for the work that they have put into this quite large report and the enormous amount of effort that's gone into making the recommendations. I also thank the secretariat, particularly Shennia and Ashley, for their very hard work. A lot of intellectual and other energies have gone into putting the report together, and I thank them and their colleagues very, very much.

When I say this is a lost opportunity, there are certainly some very important recommendations in the report, primarily around having a national policy on housing and on homelessness. My concern, however, is that they're very likely to fall on deaf ears. What has happened, in the way our society has changed, with the current pandemic has exacerbated some of the inequalities in housing that were already developing over the last decade. We've seen housing prices in our major capital cities—indeed, even in some of our regional centres—grow exponentially over the last few years. This has made it much more difficult for those on low incomes to either buy a house or even rent a house or accommodation in even some quite remote places in our regional areas. It's much more difficult for young people, for disadvantaged people and for those on very low incomes to get housing. That is not a good thing, and these inequalities are getting worse, not better. There has been a lack of response from the federal government in reversing these inequalities in housing and certainly in reversing some of the trends we've seen in homelessness over the last decade. I'm very concerned about young people and I'm very concerned about the lack of attention to young people on the fringes of the housing market and those who come from families who don't have a lot of resources, financial or otherwise. In many ways, the most disadvantaged are becoming even more disadvantaged in the housing system. People on low incomes, people with medical problems, people with mental illness, and people with drug and alcohol problems are becoming more and more marginalised, and this report does very little to address that.

I just want to make the point that in terms of health care—which obviously I've worked in for many, many years—one of the primary social determinants of health is housing, and that is very true for children and for young people. It's something that we as a country and as a society should address on an urgent basis. There is urgency of action, because if we don't do what we should be doing to improve access to housing for young people, particularly disadvantaged young people, we will be paying the ongoing price for this for many, many years, in terms of health, in terms of the criminal justice system, in terms of education. There is a need for urgency of action.

Finally, I want to very quickly say something about recommendation 34, or the so-called 'three strikes rule'. I am very, very strongly opposed to this being included in our report. In my work as a paediatrician I treated everyone the same. Princes or paupers were treated the same and that's a very important principle of health care that I have stuck to. Unless you understand the multilayers of disadvantage that many people who are homeless are facing, and you continue to espouse theories like the so-called three strikes law, you will never address the major disadvantages that are occurring in housing and homelessness in a country such as Australia. We are a wealthy country. We should never be evicting people who are suffering from mental illness, drug and alcohol dependency, intellectual disability. We should not be placing them in that situation. Yes, I know it is sometimes difficult. I know that and I know that people who are disadvantaged sometimes do bad things. But you must remember that they have families. They have children. They deserve, in a country like Australia, a safe house. The three strike rule goes very much against that and I am totally opposed to it. I think if you think it through you can see what that will do to families who are already severely disadvantaged.

I don't want to say anything more. I would have said more but unfortunately the Federation Chamber—for reasons that aren't clear to me—are not meeting again until October. I will leave my comments at that. I do commend the report. Most of the recommendations are very important ones. I hope there is urgent action on these issues. I thank the Chair, the Deputy Chair, my parliamentary colleagues and the secretariat for what is a commendable report, with those exceptions. Thank you.

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