PUBLIC HOUSING —
VETERANS — HOMELESSNESS
900. Mr
A. KRSTICEVIC to the Minister for Housing:
Given that it is Remembrance Day,
can the minister confirm how many additional houses will be dedicated to
veterans in the government's new housing strategy out to 2030, given
the high proportion of veteran homelessness?
Mr P.C.
TINLEY replied:
I thank the member for that
question. It has a lot of assumptions behind it. The first assumption is that
there is a widespread and high proportion of veterans represented in the
homeless community in Western Australia. It is quite a bizarre claim. I really
look forward to the member providing me with some evidence; I am happy to
receive it by email or phone or even behind
the Speaker's chair. I spent nearly the last three and a half years
researching this very topic, as the member might imagine, as a veteran and as
the Minister for Veterans Issues. Unfortunately, so much of what we see of
veteran homelessness is informed by social media representing the United States
experience. I point out to members that over one-third of the United States
Armed Forces is made up of the lowest socioeconomic group within that
population. That in itself creates challenges. I defy members to make an
extrapolation for what they do in a massive defence force in the United States
to what we do here with a very highly professionalised defence force. There is
no doubt that there are some challenges for people who have served, and those
challenges are multilayered, but there is not, as the member alluded to, a plethora
of people living under bridges or in parks sleeping rough. I find it quite
egregious that the member would pick out that particular cohort on this very
day when thousands of people are doing it tough in Western Australia. They are
challenged, but they are well supported by the McGowan government through the
Minister for Community Services, who has done her level best to deliver what we
can to those people who are most vulnerable in our community. I think it is
actually quite offensive that the member gets to his feet and asks a question
on veteran homelessness on this very day when we should be honouring their
service.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Members, just because I okayed it today, I do
not want everyone to keep using that word all the time.
PUBLIC HOUSING —
VETERANS — HOMELESSNESS
Mr A. KRSTICEVIC to
the Minister for Housing:
I have a supplementary question. Since being elected in March
2017, can the minister confirm that his new housing strategy up to 2030 will
effectively mean that his government has committed to only less than 1 600
additional public houses over the next decade?
The SPEAKER: No supplementary. That is the end of
question time.