Mr BAYLEY (Clark) - Mr Speaker, it is national Homelessness Week. As we know, housing is a basic human right. It was welcome to see the new minister acknowledge this in the newspapers this week. Delivering on this for Tasmania is going to take more than simple statements and selective repeat quoting of inadequate budget figures.
Early this morning the apparent temperature was 2.7 degrees on the streets in Hobart, probably even colder if you were sleeping rough in a concrete stairwell. Tasmania has gone from the state with the lowest level of homelessness to the fourth highest, with skyrocketing rents and plunging rental availability that may have only marginally started to turn a corner. The latest data from Homes Tasmania shows that priority applicants for housing through the government agency are waiting over 80 weeks for a home. Crisis accommodation is in crisis and it appears there is a long way to go before all Tasmanians can feel secure in a home and move on to living their best lives and truly enjoy all the benefits of living in lutruwita/Tasmania, the benefits that all of us in here enjoy.
Despite public acknowledgement, it seems that Government has a skewed focus when it comes to housing and homelessness. A Liberal government happy to deliver two rounds of land tax to property investors while critical services delivered by Homes Tasmania get inadequate investment and a willingness to overlook the true needs of the homeless with massive investments in pet projects like the stadium, Marinus and more demonstrates a lack of true commitment to the cause of ending homelessness and finding every Tasmanian a home. Establishing a new statutory entity alone will not solve the housing crisis and lift people from homelessness. Publishing a new strategy with a raft of motherhood statements and some welcome commitments will not do the job that is required. A government commitment to build 10 000 homes by 2032 is a welcome one, but one unwilling or unable to meet the investment required to deliver it is nothing but a fraud.
Given the gross underestimation of the costs of major projects - Marinus being a case in point - and the funding in this year's Budget, it is difficult to believe that they will get there. That means that Tasmanians will remain homeless. This Government has a credibility crisis on top of a housing crisis. Low to medium income earners and young Tasmanians can only dream to own their own home, a dream that was once attainable for ordinary Tasmanians.
There is a new Housing minister and as a new member with housing in my suite of responsibilities, I am willing to give him a go. The Greens will always work collaboratively across the parliament to get the best outcomes for Tasmanians. Housing needs in this state are urgent and something has to change. The Greens agenda can help solve the housing crisis by investing in growing the housing construction workforce and not distracting them with an unpopular, expensive and unnecessary monolith on the Hobart waterfront.
Right now we need emergency crisis accommodation, but in parallel, we need to address the stock of long-term rental availability. The Tasmanian Greens have a plan for this. We will regulate short-term accommodation to limit the number of whole properties able to be used as short stay in residential zones in tight rental markets. The regulations will exempt people listing a part of their principal residence, or those as listing their principal residence while they are temporarily absent. We will institute an immediate freeze on the new listings in areas of rental shortage and provide local government with powers to refuse to issue or renew permits when areas are under rental shortages. Determinations of rental shortages will be made by the Office of the State Demographer. This is policy that puts people first, not profits.
During Homelessness Week let us be real. Let us acknowledge the suffering, anxiety and disadvantage that not having a home presents to everyone in that situation. Let us acknowledge that it increasingly affects more women and children and that if we as a state are as good as we think we think we are, we must tackle this crisis head on with real credible commitments and investments. During Homelessness Week I pay tribute to the activists, the agencies and charities working daily to raise the alarm and deliver those services to everybody's needs - true heroes on the streets of Tasmania in the cold and dark of our long winter. I implore the Government to do more. I and the Greens stand ready to help.
