Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

TH (—) (): I would like to thank the member for Calwell for her question and for her deep commitment to housing policy in this country. The Albanese government has a comprehensive housing agenda for Australia. We are delivering the largest increase to Commonwealth rent assistance in 30 years, helping one million households. We've also elevated the importance of safe and affordable housing for women and children escaping family and domestic violence through our national plan to end gender based violence. One of the ways we are delivering this is through our Safe Places program, which is a partnership with community housing and family and domestic violence organisations to deliver crisis accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic violence. In the last year, 10 new projects have become operational, delivering critical accommodation and services on the ground. Since coming to government, I've also worked hard to ensure that a number of Safe Places projects have been put back on track after running over budget and behind time because of the former government's poor planning. I am very pleased to inform the House that they will be delivered in coming months.

To guide our next investment in the Safe Places program, I recently convened a roundtable with family and domestic violence services and housing providers to discuss how we will invest an additional $100 million allocated by our government. Providers at this roundtable certainly welcomed our government's investments, not just through the Safe Places program but also through our Housing Australia Future Fund. They saw the opportunity that a combination of the Safe Places program and the investment opportunities and possibilities provided by our Housing Australia Future Fund could deliver, and, in particular, the opportunity to provide a broader array of housing options for those in need. It was therefore disappointing to see this important investment being blocked by the Greens and the coalition, who are more interested in playing politics than seeing tangible delivery. This delay is a lost opportunity and has real-life impact. If those opposing more housing on the ground won't listen to the government, they should listen to those working on the front line about this impact. Ivan Simon from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association said his staff had spent the last 18 months preparing 3,000 properties to start construction as soon as the bill was passed, which may not happen now because we may have missed the boat. This is what is happening as a result of delay. It is time for the coalition and the Greens to listen to those building houses.

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