PUBLIC HOUSING — AVAILABILITY
233. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Housing:
I refer to the special investigation
by Josh Zimmerman in The Sunday Times late last year that revealed —
Since WA Labor took office � total
public housing stock has declined by more than 1000 �
Why did WA Labor cut public housing
stock by 1 000 dwellings in its first term, denying thousands of vulnerable Western
Australians proper housing?
The SPEAKER: The Minister for
Housing.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Order, please!
There is only one minister who needs to answer the question, thank you.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Could we hear
from the member for Perth, perhaps?
Mr J.N.
CAREY replied:
I
thank the member for his question. This government is strongly committed to
public housing in Western Australia, and it is well known that I am a passionate
advocate for these programs. We have a nearly $1 billion program for
refurbishment and for building new social homes and growing the community
housing sector. These are critical investments. But it is true to say—this
is on the public record—that we inherited significant ageing stock;
much of our housing stock is moving to the 30 to 40-year mark and, as a result,
that requires a significant refurbishment program, which has been part of our
efforts.
We
have also had to make some tough decisions about how we see social and public
housing into the future. Will it be a traditional density model or will
it be a more integrated approach that sees public housing across Western Australia
rather than in some traditional suburbs? We made some tough decisions, like the
one about Brownlie Towers in Bentley, which resulted in a loss of some housing
from the system, but the reality is that we are now investing very heavily in
public and social housing to drive that renewal. As the minister, I have said
on the record that I am looking at all opportunities to accelerate the construction
program, given the tight market that we currently face.