Public Housing

Mr BROWN (Florey) (15:03): My question is to the Minister for Human Services. Can the minister inform the house of any steps the government is taking to increase public and affordable housing in Blair Athol?

The Hon. N.F. COOK (Hurtle Vale—Minister for Human Services) (15:03): I thank the member for the question and appreciate their ongoing work to connect people in their local area with housing supports. Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting the Blair Athol neighbourhood. It is a renewal project that is being undertaken by the SA Housing Authority. The site used to be home to 50 public houses and, under the original project proposal approved under the previous Liberal government, this was to be replaced with 40 social homes, 75 affordable houses and additional homes for sale at market rates.

While the original project was adding to housing supply, it was reducing public housing for those who need it most. It did this because, under Liberal government policy, the project had to wash its own face without getting any subsidy or support by the government. Ultimately, this meant selling more homes at higher prices to balance the books.

Sadly, there is only so much you can achieve by cannibalising a system that is under strain, and our public housing system has not just been under strain because of increased demand: it has been under the pump because it has been whittled away under successive governments from both sides of politics. Most recently, the Liberals slashed more than $20 million a year from the Housing SA budget and oversaw the reduction of around 200 staff. This cut public housing properties every year upon year while they were in government.

In contrast, I am very proud to stand here as a member of a government that knows social and affordable housing needs extra support. We have committed an extra $232.7 million to public housing between 2022 and 2026. As I have told this chamber before, this will build an additional 564 new homes, upgrade 350 vacant properties so they can be homes again for people in need as well as invest in minor upgrades to 3,000 properties. The Blair Athol project is sharing in this extra investment so, instead of delivering 40 social houses and 75 affordable houses, it will now deliver 70 public houses and 95 affordable homes for purchase. This means we will increase public housing rather than losing it.

At Blair Athol also, we are delivering an extra 20 affordable homes for purchase. These are great opportunities for first-home buyers to access while also they can take advantage of our new stamp duty exemptions and loans through HomeStart. While visiting the site, we also announced the locations of 387 of our new public housing properties, linked to our 2022 election commitment. We promised 150 in regional areas, and I am thrilled to advise the house that we have exceeded that by four. We have now committed to 154.

Our building program, linked to our extra investment, is well underway, with 184 new homes already tendered, contracted, complete or under construction. At a time when parts of the building industry are doing it tough, this program is providing extra support to a critical part of our economy. More importantly, and something you cannot put a price on, these new homes mean that more families will have a safe, secure and affordable place to call home. All this work is in addition to recent federal funding that has seen South Australia secure an extra $135.8 million for social housing and also the passage of the Housing Australia Future Fund legislation.

With both state and federal Labor governments working together, we have a reliable development pipeline for social and affordable housing stretching up to a decade into the future. Ronald Reagan once said the nine scariest words in the English language were: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.' But when families are facing a tight housing market and cost-of-living pressures, they are some of the most comforting words for people to hear.