Minister, I just want to go back to the Homes Faster! Partnership medium high-density development grant, and I've had a look at the front of the chapter. Which minister administers that grant?
I just go back to evidence that was given at the legislative council short enquiry process hearings some months ago and from the Hansard to that conversation that we had.
We acknowledge there is rental assistance in the Budget, of course, but as has been required for so long, we need some structural reform in this space so as rents are controlled to make sure that the rights of tenants are protected and rents are not excessive. Why are you so resistant to introducing this kind of reform to assist some Tasmanians who are so deeply in need?
Minister, you're very good at articulating the fact that we're a third of the way through our time period to 2032 and we're a third of the way to meeting our 10,000 home target. But when it comes to social housing, the most recent dashboard shows that 370 new social homes have been built so far. That's 19 per cent of the 2000 social homes target, which is to be reached by mid-2027.
I want to talk about specialist disability accommodation. In Tasmania we have a high proportion of people living with a disability: 26.8 versus 17 per cent elsewhere. There's significant demand, and I note that your dashboard says that 2735 Homes Tasmania tenants are living with a disability. The Housing Strategy Action Plan reports that as of April last year, 38 per cent of all applications on the housing register involve a person living with a disability, so we acknowledge that there's a significant need.
I have some questions about Aboriginal housing, particularly on Cape Barren. The Budget holds a one-off payment to help the Cape Barren Island community plan the design, delivery and ongoing maintenance of municipal and essential services and housing. This is welcome and acknowledged, but there's nothing in the forward Estimates to actually deliver on what is planned, noting that housing is a significant constraint on Cape Barren Island in terms of Aboriginal people returning there to work or people wanting to return there with their families.
I want to go back to debt. Last year's annual report showed that there was borrowings with TASCORP of a bit over $60 million. The budget papers have got it rising to $230 million and in just a few years it's going to be a pretty staggering $720 million. That will cost Homes Tas $40 million just to service interest payments when we go out there. You mentioned earlier the Homes Tas borrowing limit of $266 million. Has that been raised?
Minister, the MacPoint precinct plan has a residential development zone, as we all know, at Regatta Point and the development and the $240 million from the federal government that's not GST exempt is actually conditional on building affordable homes on the site. The precinct plan is clear on the fact that the housing there would be a mixture of Homes Tasmania and Health department affordable housing for health workers and apartments for release on the market. Can you confirm if any of the $240 million from the federal money has been set aside to invest in this residential development?
The Liberals’ changes to the Residential Tenancy Regulations enable the eviction of vulnerable farm workers when employment is terminated and have been rightly called out by advocates as unfair.
The 2024-25 State Budget manages to send lutruwita/Tasmania into substantial further debt without addressing the major challenges facing the state and its people.
