The government is building so little housing it will take four decades to house every person on the social housing waitlist (assuming no new applicants are accepted to the waitlist in the meantime!). On Thursday 15 June 2023, I asked the Housing Minister for a response to this crisis. 

You can read my question and the answer below, or find the full transcript and video link in the official Queensland Parliament Record of Proceedings (Hansard). 

Amy: 

My question is to the Minister for Housing. At the government’s current social housing commencement rate it will take more than four decades to house everyone on the social housing register. How do you explain this to the tens of thousands of people in housing stress right now?

Acting speaker: 

I will take some advice in relation to that question. Member, you will need to reword that question removing the term ‘you’ from the question. Additionally, you are seeking an opinion. You will need to rephrase the question in a way that relates to the minister’s ministerial responsibility.

Amy: 

At the government’s current social housing commencement rate it will take more than four decades to house everyone on the social housing register. Can the minister tell us when they will build enough social housing to deal with the social housing crisis?

Housing Minister:
I thank the member for the question. We just handed down a record investment in the social and affordable housing budget. It is the biggest social housing build our state has ever seen—$5 billion. In the next financial year that will see a 67 per cent increase in our capital investment. Of course we could do more if we had funds from other levels of government, including the federal government through the Housing Australia Future Fund that the Greens political party and the LNP— the unholy alliance—are blocking right now.* They are blocking right now investment that will deliver 30,000 homes—30,000 homes for women and children fleeing domestic and family violence, for people sleeping rough. That is what the position is of the Greens and the LNP right now by blocking investment.

*Federal Labor's Housing Australia Future Fund Bill guaranteed no spending on housing. Recently, amendments which were proposed by the Greens were agreed to which guaranteed spending on housing. The Greens also secured an immediate $2 billion in direct investment in housing. 

We have been very clear that the state government will pull the levers that we have—

Members interjecting

Acting Speaker

Member for Logan and member for Gympie, cease your quarrelling.

Housing Minister:

We will pull all of the levers that we have. We are doing that with record investment. We are also doing it through work that we are doing with unlocking more land supply. We have investment to work with councils to deliver the infrastructure needed to increase the amount of supply. We know that in the member’s own electorate on numerous occasions she and many others on the other side of the chamber continuously block supply in their own communities.

While we will work with everyone we can to try to unlock more supply, unlock more social and affordable housing, those opposite refuse to accept the federal government’s proposal, which is to invest record amounts that would unlock 30,000 homes. We could do more if we had that investment. I encourage the member for South Brisbane and all of the LNP members to engage with the federal government to vote for a fund that will unlock more housing.

In addition to our capital investment, I should also say that we are delivering more money to assist people who are doing it tough to help them maintain private tenancy, to help renters. I saw the member out there in the media saying there was nothing for renters. That is absolute rubbish. This year’s budget delivers $250 million in housing and homelessness support so we can help people maintain private tenancy, so we can lease places for people to live. We know the opposition do not support headleasing arrangements. They said last week that they want 2,000 people, effectively, to be abandoned. They do not want us to support those individuals.

I would encourage, particularly those opposite, to put forward some actual policies—an actual plan rather than slogans—and to get out of the way of investment and to get out of the way of the sort of supply that we need here in Queensland.