Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Every Australian deserves a safe, welcoming home, but, unfortunately, not every Australian has one. As this government should know, access to housing is not just a promise that can be left to fall by the wayside, overlooked as being of marginal importance, especially when it is of such significance to individual and collective wellbeing.

Ever since the coalition took government in 2013, housing has been under threat. With this government's refusal to tackle negative gearing, affordable housing has got even further out of reach. Not only that—the coalition has failed to secure the future of the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness, which was established in 2009 by Labor. The coalition has failed to commit to long-term, forward-thinking funding of this agreement, under which the federal government works together with the states to protect people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, like women and children who face domestic violence.

When it established the agreement, Labor committed to four years of funding. Since the expiry of that four-year term, the coalition has made four extensions to the agreement: three one-year extensions and one two-year extension. Service providers in my electorate tell me that this piecemeal commitment simply is not good enough. It means that, almost every year, support services that do enormous good for the Australian community are left wondering whether they are going to be able to help Australians any longer or whether their funding will simply be slashed as a misguided budget repair exercise. NPAH housing support programs in WA have been shown to be effective, and independent research undertaken after its first year of operation demonstrated that the programs helped at-risk tenants to retain their housing, and assisted others to access stable housing.

Homelessness hurts Australia. It strips dignity from people who are forced to sleep rough because they have nowhere else to go. It endangers LGBTI youth who fear that their parents will kick them out of home because of their sexual orientation. The threat of being homeless and having nowhere to go scares vulnerable women into staying with abusive partners—and I should know, because, once upon a time, I was one of those women. It is a punishment for those who have committed no crime, and, in situations involving domestic abuse, even those who have been victims of crime.

It is more than just homeless Australians who are hurt by the current crisis of housing affordability. The looming spectre of losing one's home is a severe burden on all Australians, but especially on those on the lowest incomes. The WA economic downturn is placing particular stress on families seeking to retain or purchase housing. At December 2015, there were 20,127 households on the waiting list for public and/or community housing in Western Australia.

The Australian government has just released its annual report on government services, and volume G of that report lists some key statistics on housing and homelessness. Approximately 43 per cent of low income households in WA were in rental stress, spending more than 30 per cent of their income on housing. In 2013 and 2014, only 31 out of every 1,000 homes sold or built were affordable to low- or moderate-income earners. In 2016, 81 per cent of Commonwealth Rent Assistance recipients in WA paid enough rent to be eligible for the maximum CRA. Forty-seven per cent of CRA recipients were in rental stress, paying more than 30 per cent of income on rent, and 60 per cent of recipients under 24 were also in rental stress.

I understand that there is no easy solution to housing affordability and homelessness in this country. But when things are this difficult for Australians, in the time it takes us to work towards a durable answer, we must err on the side of compassion.

I am tired of hearing that the coalition governments, whether state or federal, need to be cruel in order to run this country. I am tired of the cuts. I am tired of them being silent on penalty rates. And I think that the Australian people are sick and tired of hearing it too. And when the moment comes that Australians evaluate those governments' performance, whether it is on 11 March in Western Australia, or whenever this federal government's disunity causes it to splinter and lose control of this House, I think the coalition will get what it so richly deserves.