Dai Le (Fowler, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I would like to thank the minister for allowing me to contribute to shaping the bill by raising some important issues. I acknowledge the minister is taking long-term steps to secure social hosing now and for the future. As someone who has grown up in public housing, I understand the importance of a safety net and I support the work that community housing providers do to ensure people have a roof over their heads. While this legislation is not perfect—let's face it, no bill is—it's definitely a good start to building more social and affordable housing for all Australians. Therefore, I move amendments to the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023 circulated in my name:

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House:

(1) acknowledges the housing crisis is locking out low-to-middle-income Australians, and is increasing demand for social and affordable housing schemes;

(2) recognises the overall need to deliver 45,000 social and affordable homes a year to tackle the housing crisis—as per data from the National Housing and Financing Investment Corporation; and

(3) calls on the government to:

(a) address development issues in the building and construction sector, including:

(i) skilled labour shortages;

(ii) supply chain issues as a result of the pandemic; and

(iii) rising interest rates and inflation causing significant increases in basic building costs;

(b) mandate state governments to streamline planning, processing and approvals, which would increase availability of development-ready land;

(c) implement incentives similar to the previous National Rental Affordability Scheme to boost housing delivery by both the private sector and community housing providers; and

(d) work with states to enact uniform tenants' rights laws".

My electorate of Fowler has the sixth-highest rate of families in public and social housing across Australia and the fourth-worst rental affordability in the country. In Fowler, 46 per cent of our rental households have rental payments that are more than 30 per cent of their household income. There is little room to negotiate, with rental vacancy rates in Sydney at 1.3 per cent. In Sydney's south-west, the vacancy rate is at one per cent as of January 2023.

The Reserve Bank has just made its ninth interest rate rise in a row, causing more financial stress and pressure for our middle-income-earning Australians. With these tough economic times, it's a very real possibility that many of my residents who own homes may be forced to default on them and, with such a low vacancy rate, may find themselves with nowhere to go.

As many of us in this House know, the cost-of-living crisis is hitting the hip pockets of many Australians right now, especially in electorates like Fowler, where our median income is 20 per cent less than the national average. How can people afford to save for a deposit while they pay rent and they're struggling to simply put food on the table and pay for petrol, while looking after their kids and elderly parents?

My second point refers to a 2021 report by NHFIC which states that 45,000 social and affordable homes are required each year to tackle the current housing crisis. Similar views are shared by the community housing providers I have consulted with regarding the lack of housing supply. St George Community Housing, based in Bonnyrigg, have suggested the $500 million fund would fall short to make 30,000 homes, let alone the projected 45,000 homes required for both social and affordable housing.

Hume Community Housing, in their joint submission with PowerHousing Australia, also state that 30,000 homes could have a capital construction cost of approximately $10.5 billion alone. This does not include upkeep, maintenance and providing other much-needed services to these communities. They have also provided data outlining that wait times for homes in their Fairfield and Liverpool branches are all at capacity, and people are having to wait 10 years plus to secure a home. Hume Community Housing are currently housing over 12,000 people in Liverpool and Fairfield. Their support networks are integral to getting the homeless off the streets and providing as much support as possible to vulnerable people like Jessica, a young person whose life spiralled out of control due to drug addiction. But, with the support of Hume Community Housing, she is now reformed and is helping others with the issues she once struggled with. This includes being a shoulder to lean on, helping people fill out their paperwork and reaching out to those in need through her social media channels. Addiction doesn't discriminate. Jessica says that it's not only about having a home but also about having solid support around you to keep you going and focused on the future.

Another provider I spoke with, Evolve Housing, operates out of Parramatta and manages 2,000 homes across Western Sydney. They have told us that their priority waiting list takes five to 10 years, while the general waiting list is 10 years or more. St George Community Housing, another community housing provider in my electorate of Fowler, provide essential services to nearly 1,500 residents in Bonnyrigg Newleaf. They provide funfairs, movie nights and family outings but also help residents upskill with development programs. These include an IT and computer literacy class, which they're proud to say has led to two of the class of 10 people gaining part-time work so far.

These examples go to show that the CHPs are working hard to provide tenants with a roof over their heads as well as ensuring residents are not only housed but their overall wellbeing is looked after. But they're having to deal with the lack of social and affordable housing. The supply is simply not enough. While the Housing Australia Future Fund has set out its mandate to build these homes, more needs to be done to ensure the longevity of the scheme and to safeguard community programs that CHPs offer so tenants ultimately benefit.

My third point that I hope the government will address concerns the skills and supply chain shortages that are plaguing most, if not all, industries. According to the ABS, input costs for house building grew by 14.2 per cent in the 12 months to December 2022. In pre-pandemic times, the average build time for a detached dwelling was roughly nine months. In many locations across the country, build times have ballooned out to 24 months. It's all well and good to commit to building 30,000 homes, but this is not achievable if we don't have the workforce or the materials to do so. I support skilled migration to fill the immediate gaps, but I urge the government to also look towards increasing apprenticeships and training positions to upskill our local residents to join the construction sector as well.

While the rest of the country faces all-time-low unemployment rates, the story in Fowler is very different. We have an unemployment rate of 10 per cent, nearly three times the national average. Here I want to commend the work of St George Community Housing in also introducing pathways to employment, therefore bringing down the unemployment rate in our area. It was through the work of St George Community Housing that I learned the story of Wiradjuri man Arthur and his two sons Arthur Jr and Thomas. Arthur spent a large portion of life in and out of jail and abusing drugs but made the decision to get clean while Arthur Jr's and Thomas's mother was in the last stage of cancer. It took him years to get clean, gain custody of his kids and move into Bonnyrigg Newleaf. With the support of St George, both boys, now teenagers, are working part-time, with Arthur Jr pursuing courses in construction and hospitality. Their very proud father says: 'The courses are building their confidence. They are not hanging around the streets and with their friends but are doing something for themselves and getting skills they wouldn't have been able to get otherwise.' This is one example of how CHPs can inspire their residents to contribute to the trades and construction sector and also tackle the workforce issue.

It's clear that, while construction of housing is important, community engagement is pivotal to tenants' wellbeing and provides them with opportunities to grow their skill sets so they may be able to become self-sufficient through employment. I hope the government and the minister are genuine and authentic in wanting to jump start the manufacturing and construction sectors, which they are proposing under the National Reconstruction Fund—especially supporting the small and medium enterprises in places like south-west Sydney to enable them to create local jobs and local products so we are no longer reliant on other countries for what we can create ourselves.

My fourth point refers to the National Rental Affordability Scheme but is an overall issue we need to address in the HAFF's investment mandate. We must ensure we encourage investment both from private entities and community housing providers. Hume Housing and St George Community Housing have also echoed the need for co-investment into social and affordable housing. When we talk about co-investment, the National Rental Affordability Scheme comes to mind. Starting in 2008, in light of the global financial crisis, it's incredibly unfortunate that the NRAS is beginning to wrap up during another cost-of-living crisis. Evolve Housing raised concerns about the end of the scheme, citing the 436 private properties they manage under NRAS have reduced to 360 as of February 2023. They have assured us the 300 or so properties they developed under the scheme will remain subsidised. They said: 'Even with the stars aligned, and we miraculously get these 30,000 properties in the next five years, the net impact will be close to zero without the NRAS.'

As the scheme draws to a close, thousands of people living in affordable homes will be out on the street with some of the lowest rental vacancy rates in the last 10 years. This will therefore put more pressure on community housing providers to develop more houses, but it isn't possible to do this overnight. I acknowledge that many private developers took advantage of this scheme, building cheaper and smaller homes while receiving the same subsidies. However, if there was a regulation that ensured proportional funding depending on the size of the build as well as the location of the build, this would not be so easily taken advantage of.

With rising interest rates and inflation, I understand why mum-and-dad investors will be pulling out of this scheme early. After all, it's untenable to continue subsidising rent if they're haemorrhage money. The government should look to safeguard the current tenancies by incentivising altruistic private investors to stay on the scheme, but with the above regulations. There's a lot to be learned from NRAS. I sincerely hope the government takes the lessons onboard when forming the investment mandate for the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023.

My last point is to safeguard tenant rights and to call for the federal government to work with the state governments to create a national tenants' rights policy. This would ensure that private developments meet minimum standards and renters can be in habitable conditions, boosting their health and wellbeing. At the moment, many of the renters in Fowler go without proper heating in the cooler months or air conditioning in the hotter months. Last year in South-Western Sydney, six people were hospitalised from carbon monoxide poisoning after using a charcoal barbecue to heat up their homes. How is this an acceptable standard of living in this day and age? Tenants also fear they could face eviction on a whim, and this is particularly concerning given that 42 per of people in my electorate of Fowler rent rather than owning their own home, nearly 10 percentage points more than the national average. It will be devastating to see more people get evicted into a scarce rental market with some of the lowest rental vacancies in the last decade.

In sum, I want to make it clear that I agree with CHPs who have raised concerns that the funding is inadequate and that 30,000 homes may not be enough, but we must start somewhere, and having some social and affordable housing is, I suppose, better than having none. I support the minister in her efforts to take these measured steps to ensure we are helping the most needy and vulnerable. Community housing can change lives, as it has changed mine and my family's. Jessica, whose life was transformed by community housing, reminded us why we must get this right when she said, 'Having a safe place to go to is the most important thing in life.'

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