Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I think we need to note that the minister that was giving the answer today is not the minister for housing and homelessness and he wasn't representing the minister for housing and homelessness, because the government don't even have a minister for housing and homelessness. In fact, they don't even have an assistant minister, which is in contrast to Labor. Senator Cameron, who is our shadow minister for housing and homelessness, has been working extremely hard to hold the government to account. Homelessness is an important issue. It's one that this government have failed to take seriously. We know they've shown no real commitment to addressing homelessness. Basically, they've fallen asleep at the wheel.

As we heard from Senator Cameron, homelessness does not just occur in our big cities. It's an issue for all Australia and it appears to be growing. There is no evidence—no evidence at all—to show that the number of people experiencing homelessness is less than the 105,000 people recorded as homeless in the 2011 census. An Australian Institute of Health and Welfare study in 2014-15 showed that my home state of Tasmania has the third highest rate of homelessness, coming in behind the Northern Territory and Victoria. In Hobart, where Senator Brown and I live, 150 people are sleeping rough on any given night. For those familiar with Hobart, you'll understand that, particularly in Hobart's winter, in the evenings with the winds that come off Kunyani—Mount Wellington, for those who don't know—it can be more than bitterly cold. I, for one, wouldn't like to be homeless on these winter nights, and I'm sure that none of my fellow senators from Tasmania would like to either. I think the government often forgets that what they're dealing with here are people not just statistics. We are talking about human life and we are talking about dignity of that human life. Having safe shelter is, obviously, a basic human need. Yet, it's one that this government has given up on ensuring that all Australians are able to meet.

Many in this place would be aware that this is Homelessness Week. The theme of this year's Homelessness Week is 'Action and Innovation'. Unfortunately, for a Prime Minister so dedicated to innovation, we have seen very little action on the issue of homelessness. The government's disdain for the issue of homelessness even stretched to the government senators, who voted with Senator Bernardi against the homelessness motion in this chamber on Wednesday. They voted against the motion on homelessness on Wednesday in this place. This government has shown time and time again it just doesn't care. They have just shoved homelessness off into the too-hard basket. Well, those of us on this side of the chamber do care and I, for one, believe it is vital to act and keep on acting until homelessness rates are improved dramatically.

The cause of homelessness is often common life experiences. The loss of a job, a marriage break-up, ill health, mental health problems and lack of superannuation can result in people either being on the streets or couch-surfing. In particular, we are seeing increasing rates of homelessness amongst older women and young people exiting out-of-home care. This is a national disgrace. We are a wealthy country. We have great resources. We've got the talents and skills of highly educated people available to us. We live in one of the most sophisticated technological society ever seen, yet every night we cannot find shelter and a bed for thousands of people who need one. This has to change. Nothing illustrates the growing divide in our society between rich and poor than the growing rates of homelessness. If we are serious about tackling inequality then making sure people have a safe place to sleep at night, a secure place to call home, a place to wash, a place to eat and a place to raise a family and be cared for must surely be a policy priority. Yet the government doesn't even have a minister for homelessness. It just astounds me.

When we were in government, we established the Social Housing Initiative, which was a schedule to the National Partnership Agreement on the Nation Building and Jobs Plan. Now, the main aim of the Social Housing Initiative was to stimulate the construction industry, increase the supply of social housing and provide long-term accommodation for homeless people and people at risk of homelessness. Around 19,700 new social housing dwellings were built. The repairs and maintenance element enabled approximately 80,000— (Time expired)