Today’s announcement of the Essential Housing Package will fail to deliver more homes as the Minns Labor Government turns its back on new housing delivery.
“The Minns Government has already turned its back on new homes in regional communities, cancelling the much-needed Argyll Estate redevelopment in Coffs Harbour that was to deliver close to 500 homes, without any alternative on the table,” Shadow Minister for Housing Scott Farlow said.
“It’s strange that the Government would put $70 million towards accelerating the delivery of social and affordable homes, primarily in regional New South Wales, when just last week they cancelled much needed projects in regional NSW like the Argyll Estate redevelopment.”
“The Argyll Estate cancellation was ideological – the Government didn’t want private sector development on the site which was going to fund the social re-development. The outcome is that the Government’s ideology will deliver fewer private dwellings and fewer social and affordable homes. The Future Directions Policy introduced by the Coalition Government delivered more social, affordable and private homes, improved the social housing stock and was sustainably funded.”
“The question that Labor needs to answer is how they are going to fund their additional social housing commitments if they take the private sector out of the equation. Put simply, the money needs to come from somewhere.”
“In last year’s Coalition Budget, $300 million was allocated for capital maintenance works on over 15,800 State-owned social housing properties, extending the life of social homes and ensuring tenants have safe accommodation.”
“The Government needs to make clear whether their funding package today is in addition to that amount or just a re-allocation of existing commitments.”
Shadow Minister for Homelessness Natasha Maclaren-Jones welcomed the news that the Labor Government endorsed the successful Services Our Way and Together Home packages that were established by the Coalition in Government and have been delivering for vulnerable communities.
“In Government the Coalition invested more than $9 billion in social housing and increased the social housing portfolio by 10% over a decade with 154,000 properties, making it bigger than both Victoria and Queensland combined, while reducing the waiting list by 30,000 since we came into office,” Ms Maclaren-Jones concluded.
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