Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Tasmanians are struggling with the burden of rising housing costs. People are being forced to live in vans or are sleeping in the streets or in our parks because they cannot afford to rent or to buy their own home. And there aren't enough places where you can park your van for very long which don't cost you money.

I'm proud that the Albanese Labor government is actually working to lift people out of these dire situations and into good, decent housing. On this side, we fundamentally believe in the value of a home and what it means to someone who is struggling to get by. Housing is the very first step in establishing a good living, an education and a pathway to a decent career. How could you possibly imagine pulling yourself up by the bootstraps without basic shelter? How can children possibly realise their dreams when they cannot even study, eat or sleep under their own roof? As ridiculous as it sounds, those opposite somehow believe, ideologically, that the opportunities that social housing bring to our communities are meaningless. In other words, they think that vulnerable people should be left out to the wolves. It isn't just me saying this; all of us have witnessed how the coalition has abandoned those in need of housing time and time again. For a decade, those opposite dismantled social housing programs and refused to do a single thing to build more homes. That was 10 years of lost opportunity, 10 years of abandonment and 10 years of cruelty towards the most vulnerable Australians.

In Tasmania, the last remaining state Liberal government in this country stands—regrettably—even if it is very wobbly at the moment. They have dropped the ball on social housing—they have dropped the ball! Tasmanians have been left with over 4½ thousand applicants waiting to secure a home, according to recent data. The waitlist lasts up to 80.8 weeks—80.8 weeks! Many people now don't even bother to apply for a housing department home in my home state because they know they will be left in limbo year after year.

And it isn't just these numbers that are causing misery and despair in our communities in Tasmania and around the rest of the country; large numbers of vacant homes have been kept off the market by the state housing department in my home state of Tasmania. How cruel is that? We know how desperate people are and that we have the homeless living on the streets or in vans outside netball centres. This is going on in our country and what do the Liberals do? Absolutely nothing! What is even worse is that the Tasmanian Liberal senators who sit in this chamber never talk about homelessness. They never talk about housing and the crisis that we're facing right across the country, or even look at what's happening in our own backyard in Tasmania; they're only interested in other issues. The mentality of those on the other side is this: they say that if you just get out and have a go then you'll get somewhere. I can recall a former prime minister saying that, 'If you get out and have a go you will be able to do what you want to do.' Or, 'If you've got a rich parent they'll be able to buy you a house.' That's not the reality.

It has taken the Labor government to get a solution—along with negotiations with the Greens. Finally, I might add! The Greens have finally come to the party and actually put the Australian people before their own political agenda. They're all about slogans; Labor is about solutions. And we need a solution, because the fundamental right of every Australian is to have a secure home which they can afford. And if they can't do that then we should be doing what we can to provide it.

We know that in Tasmania there's a skills and workforce shortage, and people are accepting jobs in these areas where we desperately need their experience and their expertise, but they can't take up those jobs because they can't find a house. They can't find a house to rent and they certainly can't find a house that is affordable. The desperation of Tasmanians trying to find a home can be seen when looking at devastating short-stay figures. There are 4,255 dwellings in Tasmania that have been listed as short-stay rentals, including 365 in Launceston, where I live. I'm not opposed to short-stay accommodation, but what we desperately need is for the Tasmanian government to now work with the Albanese Labor government to ensure that we have more houses being built on the ground for social housing and that Tasmanians are no longer locked out of the opportunity of having a social house or being able to afford a house.

This is why our record investments in thousands of new social housing dwellings matter. They matter for families trying to house and feed their children, and they matter for finally reversing the Liberal neglect of these families at both state and federal level. With our population growing in Tasmania and expected to hit almost 600,000 by 2041, in the time going forward it will be essential to have those houses built on the ground. We need action now to ensure that people in Tasmania and around Australia have access to housing that is safe, secure and affordable. That's why it's so important that we finally got the Greens in the room. I want to pay full credit to Minister Julie Collins, a Tasmanian, for her hard work of being able to finally get the Greens to see that they should be putting Australians before themselves.

These bills will make a real difference in the lives of thousands of Tasmanians. The wait time for social housing in Tasmania has blown out because we simply do not have enough houses to meet the demand. In places around Australia that are facing the same problem, this suite of bills will help to combat this. The Labor government's housing reform agenda is ambitious, but we made a commitment at the election to address the dire housing crisis around Australia. The Housing Australia Future Fund Bill establishes a $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund to be invested by the Future Fund Board of Guardians to create returns which will fund affordable social housing. This fund will help to deliver 30,000 new social houses. It will provide $200 million over five years for housing in Indigenous communities, $100 million for housing for women and children impacted by domestic violence and women at risk of homelessness, and $30 million to build housing for veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The Albanese government will deliver for Tasmanians with the Housing Australia Future Fund, which is set to deliver homes for vulnerable Tasmanians. This important investment is a long time coming, after 10 years of discussion, delay and lack of consultation by the former coalition government on social affordable housing. The changes announced will ensure all states and territories benefit from the government's housing agenda to put more roofs over people's heads.

Typically of the Tasmanian Liberal Senate team, as I said before, they have shown no interest whatsoever in ensuring that vulnerable Tasmanians have their needs met or in providing affordable or social housing for them. They have failed Tasmanians time and time again. We cannot forget that they had 10 years in government but what they have delivered for the Tasmanian community is more despair, more desperation and more people living on the streets and being homeless. That's what they have done, and they have been the star members of their 'no-alition' on this issue of housing affordability and social housing. It's a disgrace.

Housing Australia's investment mandate will ensure a minimum of 1,200 dwellings in each state and territory over the first five years of the Housing Australia Future Fund, which means Tasmania will receive its fair share under the government's commitment to build 30,000 new social and affordable rental homes in the fund's first five years. It is no time to complain about this historic reform. The Albanese government is getting on with the job of building social and affordable housing, because we know that too many Tasmanians and too many Australians are sleeping rough. And this is just the beginning. This will ensure that more people have a roof over their heads.

I thank all those who are supporting this bill today. Those opposite are still waiting, willing to see people go without a home, because of their DNA of 'You can do it; why don't you just go out and get a job like everyone else does?' And why do they say that? It's because they have no understanding of what it's like to struggle, to not be able to provide shelter for your family, to not be able to provide enough money at the end of the fortnight after you've got your social security benefit to buy a carton of milk for your kids. They don't know what it's like to say no when their kids can't go on a school camp. They have no understanding of the impact on children who are raised in poverty, in insecure living arrangements. That impact means that those children all too often miss out on days at school. They don't have a balanced, healthy diet. This all has an impact on the development of their brain. That's the real impact of the lack of social and affordable housing on our community.

We, as a rich nation, should not accept that. That is why we did the deal that had to be done with the Greens and the crossbench to help more Australians—more children, more women who are fleeing domestic violence and are at risk of homelessness. We know that the cohort of women aged 55 and older is the fastest-growing cohort of homeless people in this country, and we should be ashamed of that. We're a rich nation. We can do more and we must do more. It's time those on that side got out of the way and accepted the fact that this bill will change the lives of ordinary Australians—those who are struggling to make ends meet, those who can't afford to provide a home for their family. Put yourself in the shoes of a mother or father who can't provide that shelter for their children, or who have to farm their children off to relatives. Just think about those people. Stop for one minute and put yourself in those people's shoes. Maybe then you might decide to support these pieces of legislation.

But I somehow doubt it, because I think it's in their DNA, because they've always had a helping hand. They've come from very privileged lives. They have no understanding of what Australians are going through at this point in time.