Pat Farmer (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the appalling lack of public housing in New South Wales. I would like to highlight an article from my local paper, the Campbelltown-Macarthur Advertiser about a mother of six who was offered a home that was boarded up. It had a stench of urine. They had to use a crowbar to open the front door for the home offered to this family with six children by the Department of Public Housing in New South Wales.

Public housing is at crisis point in New South Wales. All we see from the New South Wales government is higher land taxes, which in turn force the mums and dads out of investing in private properties, which means that there is a shortage in the market, which means that the government has to provide more housing and they do not have enough money to do that. This means there is a shortage of housing and people in electorates such as mine of Macarthur and living in areas such as Claymore, Macquarie Fields, Airds—and particularly this case in Rosemeadow—have to put up with these sorts of place to live in or they live on the streets. Believe me, many many people in Sydney and in New South Wales are living on the streets and under bridges and in canal ways rather than taking up the offer of New South Wales public housing to live in these urine smelling places that are offered to them. Something has to be done about this.

Kevin Rudd said, when he was running around trying to be elected at the last election, that when he was in government the buck would stop with him. I am asking him to please do something about this situation. We have seen a billion dollars wasted on a program of insulation in the roofs of houses right across the nation to try and help the environment. I understand that is important but there are three basic needs of every single human being. They are housing or shelter—number one—then food and fresh water. It does not matter where in the world that you travel to—these three basic needs need to be met as a sign of humanity for all people and they are not being met in New South Wales and something needs to be done about this.

I ask this government in power at this point in time to please speak with their mates in the New South Wales government, to please help people like Tracey Abigail, the single mother of six child in my electorate who tried to get into a house at Rosemeadow and cannot find any accommodation and the many other people that live on the streets in New South Wales. I ask to table an article by Soraiya Gharahkani from my local paper, the Campbelltown-Macarthur Advertiser to highlight this issue. It is an issue that I will continue to fight, whether I am in this House or if I find myself somewhere else at a later point in time. It is something that people need to stand up for and work right across this country for.

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