Stephen Bates (Brisbane, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank organisations in my Brisbane community offering urgent housing assistance and homelessness support services. Wesley Mission, 3rd Space and Valley Hearts are just some of the many organisations that assist thousands of people each year, with services such as providing food and essentials, mental health support, legal help and employment support.

As valuable as these services are, the reality is that with the growing number of people facing homelessness in Brisbane, these organisations and their teams are being stretched to breaking point.

It's the role of the government to actually come in and fix the root causes, not just tinker with some bandaid solutions here and there, and rely on staff and volunteers in this sector for everything else. The community knows the government's housing plan does not go anywhere near far enough. We know that as the cost of living continues to rise and rents and house prices continue to skyrocket, it's only going to get worse.

The government must directly build public housing. They can't just keep relying on the goodwill of charities. They are being stretched thin and people will break.

We must create an economic model that sees housing as an essential human right and not a commodity. That means the government directly and urgently building more homes so we can clear the growing waitlists and bring the private market under control.

See this speech in context