Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) Share this | Hansard source

(New South Wales—Minister for Sport, Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development and Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) (15:00): We have been working as a government very closely with the community housing system, with about 1,000 community housing providers around the country, and working with the states, with the stimulus, and we have seen probably the biggest increase in community housing since the stimulus. As a sector, it now represents about 40,000 social housing dwellings. This sector relies on money that comes out of the National Affordable Housing Agreement, money that goes to the states to fund the public housing system. We know, from the previous form of the Howard government—and they are sitting on the other side there—that, when the Liberal Party have to find that $70 billion, they will go straight to housing. They will take money out of the National Affordable Housing Agreement. They will take money out of the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness. They will take money out of the Reconnect program. They have form, because they did it last time—$3.1 billion, and not one Liberal senator across there complained about it. (Time expired)