Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—One last issue I want to speak about in the debate on the appropriations bill, which I didn't get the chance to do the other day, was housing, which is very important, especially in my electorate. Housing has been an issue for a long time across Australia and homelessness remains a serious challenge. This Albanese Labor government is working to turn this around. Since coming into government, more than 220,000 Australians have bought their first home, rent assistance has increased for over a million households, more than 25,000 social and affordable homes are in planning or construction, including in my seat of Adelaide, and the government has committed to $45 billion to build more homes to support renters and help more Australians into homeownership.

It was only recently that, on behalf of Clare O'Neill, I attended a sod-turning ceremony for a Uniting on Hawker project in my electorate with the premier, Mr Malinauskas. This is a great housing project to be built in collaboration with the state government and the federal government. The project is not just about building apartments; it's about rebuilding lives. For the people who will be going into these houses, it's about restoring their stability, about giving them hope for the future and about creating a place where people can feel safe, valued and supported.

Uniting on Hawker will replace some outdated buildings with 30 modern, thoughtfully designed apartments combining both social and affordable housing. These homes will be built across two levels with shared communal spaces designed to encourage friendship, connection and create a real community. Our focus at the campaign of the last federal election was on housing, certainly for women, who are the biggest cohort of homeless at the moment, the fastest-growing rate, especially women over 55. This housing project will ensure that it houses people that are in vulnerable situations. Every aspect of this development has been shaped with care and safety in mind. Universal design principles will make sure that every home is accessible, comfortable and suited to women with different physical needs.

Another project I attended in my electorate was the Law and Alfred West Cottage's home. I was honoured to be there—again, representing the honourable Claire O'Neill, the minister for housing—that day to celebrate the project which will deliver secure, modern and dignified homes for women over the age of 55. Right there in my electorate, you can actually see the promises of the federal Albanese Labor government come to fruition and it's something that fills me with immense pride. These homes are more than just bricks and mortar; they are about housing human beings. We see these people, we value them and we will not leave older women behind. Through the federal government's Housing Australia Future Fund or the HAFF funding, there's investment in redevelopment projects all around my electorate to provide safe and contemporary homes for older women, who are the biggest group of people to find themselves in vulnerable positions, and who are, tragically, as I said, the fastest-growing group at risk of homelessness. This is not a statistic that we just sit with comfortably nor is it one we can ignore; t's a call to action. These events to launch these projects are part of our answer. That particular project is a $13.3 million project to deliver 29 new homes in my electorate, and it stands as a powerful reminder that housing availability, social infrastructure and dignity in ageing are priorities shared across the federal government and with our state colleagues, of course, because they were assisting as well.

Previously there were some ageing cottages there. They were falling apart on the very site where they had served their community well. But their time has passed and what rises in their place is not simply new housing; it is a renewal. The Laura and Alfred West Cottage Homes represent opportunity, stability, safety and ultimately a place to call home, a home where older women can rebuild, reclaim their independence and re-imagine their futures.

To Believe Housing Australia, trustee of the Laura and Alfred West Cottage Homes, I extend my thanks for their great work that they do in our community, housing vulnerable people. And not only have they delivered this incredible redevelopment in conjunction with the state and federal governments, but their commitment has restored hope, strengthened our community and ensured that more South Australian women can live with the security and respect that they deserve. So I thank them for helping us build a future where every woman, regardless of age and circumstances, has a safe place to call home.

See this speech in context