STATE Housing Minister and Member for Eastern Victroria Harriet Shing has been challenged on public housing numbers in the eastern Gippsland region.
Member for Gippsland East Tim Bull said Ms Shing recently boasted about the number of ‘new’ homes the Labor government has delivered in the area. However, Mr Bull believed the numbers did not tell the full story.
“This is slightly mischievous as the government makes out these are additional homes, and they are not,” he said.
“In fact, we have less public housing residences in eastern Victoria now than when the Labor government came to office, as they are selling off and demolishing old stock quicker than they are building.
“The government’s own figures state that in East Gippsland and Wellington shires in 2015 we had 1612 residences and in 2023 (the most recent figures available) we have 1610 – two less homes despite the population growth and greater need.
“If you want to look further afield to Latrobe, it has 19 less homes than it had in 2015, so as a wider region we are 21 down – it is not the rose petal story Ms Shing would have us believe it is.”
Mr Bull called on Ms Shing to address the issue in her electorate.
“This is her own electorate and what she has in fact done is oversee a reduction of public housing in her own patch in a period of a housing crisis,” he said.
“What she needs to do is start talking what the net gains and losses are – and explain why we have had a net loss.
“The so called ‘Big Build’ is not delivering here and, in fact, we are going backwards, as we regularly see old public housing stock being sold through local agents.”
In response, Ms Shing said $107 million had been invested in social and affordable homes in Latrobe, Wellington and East Gippsland LGAs.
“Which has already delivered 183 new social and affordable homes, with a further 118 underway,” she said.
“Our record on housing is clear. We’ve delivered thousands of new social and affordable homes across Victoria with thousands more in the pipeline.
“The Liberal-Nationals cut millions of dollars in social housing funding last time they were in government and continue to try to block new homes.
“The Nationals are not only wrong about the progress we’re making as part of our record investment in social housing, they have consistently opposed the delivery of new housing from the opposition benches, and worse still, when they were last in government they slashed funding for people most in need of the security of a home.”
The state government has made a $6.3 billion investment in the Big Housing Build and Regional Housing Fund, which includes $2.25 billion in funding for rural and regional Victoria.
The government says the Big Housing Build and Regional Housing Fund will deliver a 10 per cent uplift in the total number of social housing stock, providing a stable foundation for thousands of Victorians to build their lives, and cut the housing waitlist by 16 per cent.
