House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Housing and Homelessness Funding Housing and Homelessness Funding Ms STINSON House of Assembly Badcoe Housing and Homelessness Funding Ms STINSON (Badcoe) (14:57): My question is to the Minister for Human Services. Can the minister update the house on the difference made by the Malinauskas Labor government in terms of housing and homelessness since the last state election? Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call. The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly Hurtle Vale Minister for Human Services The Hon. N.F. COOK (Hurtle Vale—Minister for Human Services) (14:57): Thank you very much to the member for Badcoe for her interest in this really important area of policy and for her question. At the 2022 election, Labor knew that there was a crisis in housing and homelessness. We made big promises to address these challenges. Labor promised more than $180 million to start repairing our system. In contrast, the Liberal Party went to the election with an 85-word housing policy that included no new money and simply repackaged old announcements. This followed the then Liberal government announcing a 10-year housing strategy which also included exactly zero extra dollars. Soon after the election, we signed funding agreements worth more than $6 million over four years for the Hutt St Centre, Catherine House and Vinnies, significant and substantial investments in really important organisations that help those who are most vulnerable. All of these organisations had lost out— Members interjecting: The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly Hurtle Vale Minister for Human Services The Hon. N.F. COOK: I note that there is cackling from those opposite regarding this important work. All of these organisations had lost out under the former Liberal government's homelessness reform. Our investment means that Hutt St will continue with their important Aspire program work, Catherine House will keep providing crisis beds for women in need and Vinnies will continue to improve their services for homeless people. We also promised an extra $177.5 million for public housing, and our budget on 2 June locked in that funding. No whistle for that one? This will deliver at least 400 new homes and upgrade 350 vacant properties so they can be homes again for people in need. They will also have a maintenance blitz undertaken on 3,000 tenanted homes. We have already started to work on the new homes in Mount Gambier, and these are part of the 150 new homes that we promised for regional areas. We visited the South-East and Upper Spencer Gulf to talk to local councils and communities about how this investment can deliver the best outcomes for those communities. Vacant public housing properties dropped from 1,800 plus last year to around 1,400 this year, and we negotiated a new eight-year maintenance contract worth almost a billion dollars. After the election of the federal Labor government in May, we have been working with the commonwealth on the housing accord and the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund. Together, these commonwealth and state initiatives are expected to deliver more than 50,000 social and affordable homes over five years from mid-2024. In contrast, under the Liberals public housing got smashed. More than 190 FTEs, around 20 per cent of the total Housing SA workforce, disappeared under the Liberals. Public housing stock numbers went down every single year under the Liberals, and they had plans—big plans—to keep selling. Labor committed to increasing supply, but we also promised to consult with stakeholders about sustainability, efficiency and accessibility standards. While the former Liberal government did not commit— Mr Pederick interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond is warned. The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly Hurtle Vale Minister for Human Services The Hon. N.F. COOK: —Labor consulted with key groups and endorsed changes to the National Construction Code, which will see energy efficiency improve, and also Aging in Place, a very important thing for people in South Australia. I also commend the Minister for Small Business and Consumer Affairs for her recent residential tenancy discussion paper release. I look forward to hearing the results of that and— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly Hurtle Vale Minister for Human Services The Hon. N.F. COOK: —the older women's taskforce. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond, the member for Florey and the member for Hartley are each on three warnings.