Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Housing) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kingston for her question. She, of course, well knows that there are 132 projects underway in her electorate. She is very supportive of those projects, because they bring local jobs. As well as building the infrastructure we need for tomorrow, they are providing the jobs we need today in electorates like hers, particularly in suburbs like Hallett Cove, Seaford and Woodcroft. Indeed, in the area of housing, there are 20 new homes being built in her electorate at a cost of $6.1 million in the first stage of the social housing stimulus package. If the Liberals had their way, not a single one of those 132 projects would be going ahead—not the education, not the social housing, not the large infrastructure and not the small grants there either. It is clear that, while we are building the economy up, the Liberals are talking it down—constant negativity on the issue of jobs for the future.

Just three weeks ago, I visited Hackham with the member for Kingston and saw the work about to commence on 16 homes in her electorate. While I was there, I spoke to Bradley Jansen, the Managing Director of Qattro, the company that are building these homes. Qattro currently have 14 employees but, of course, as is the way with building companies, they have about 40 to 50 full-time equivalent contractors on their books at any one time. Prior to the announcement of the stimulus package, Qattro were considering laying people off. Instead, when they heard about the stimulus package in social housing, they attended an information forum about it. They saw the opportunities for their business and, instead of laying people off, they are now putting people on. Indeed, they decided against redundancies that they had planned. As well as the project that we are talking specifically about, Mr Jansen wrote to us and said:

The social housing stimulus package gave us confidence to plan positively for the future. This confidence, coupled to responsible management, has helped us view this economic cycle as one of opportunity as opposed to one of doom and gloom. Thanks again to your team and the Federal Government for supporting our business, our staff and supplier subcontractor base.

It is well worth remembering that, as well as this particular project of 16 homes, the investment that is provided through the stimulus package has unlocked equity that Qattro have. It has meant that they have been able to go right through their building supply chain. Projects that they had stalled because of the very tight finance environment will proceed because they have been able to do this deal with the South Australian Housing Trust to build these 16 homes. Qattro say:

This has allowed us to plan for the re-utilisation of the equity and profits on other projects on our books that are currently stalled due to tightened institutional funding.

It is also worth saying that, as well as putting on a new trainee just yesterday and putting on a new contract manager in the next few weeks, Qattro attended a local jobs summit last week that was organised by the member for Kingston. She is a very active member and, indeed, on the day that we were in her electorate she spotted a fellow across the road from the Hackham Business Association—a very nice man; Lloyd I think his name was—and said, ‘Lloyd, Lloyd! Come over and meet these people.’ She introduced them to Qattro, and Lloyd said, ‘Yeah, we’ve got a brickie up the road and we’ve got an electrician down here.’ Qattro have attended the local jobs summit in Kingston and have been able to make connections with local tradespeople and local suppliers there. So the flow-on effects of jobs in that area are supported by this investment in social housing.

The Daily Telegraph has been reporting over the last two days on homelessness in Western Sydney. As well as these fantastic job benefits, it is also worth remembering that we are building 20,000 new units of social housing and fixing up more than 10,000 homes that would have been lost as accommodation because of their poor state. Through these 30,000 extra properties and another 50,000 properties through our National Rental Affordability Scheme, we are putting roofs over the heads of families that need to house their children and that need help at a time when they are particularly vulnerable. I would love to hear from the opposition what their plan is to support these families that need a roof over the heads of their children and I would love to hear from them what their plans are to support jobs in construction. If they have a plan, they did not enunciate it in the budget reply speech and they did not enunciate it down there at the National Press Club when they could have. There was not a word on homelessness, not a word on housing these people and not a word on construction jobs.

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