Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We know that, under the previous government, we saw a decade of inaction on housing. Over that time, the Liberals built just 373 social and affordable homes, a shocking record that Labor is working every single day to turn around. We're investing $45 billion to build more homes to help renters and help more Australians buy their first home, and we are literally changing lives.

Under the Albanese Labor government's Crisis and Transitional Accommodation Program, we recently delivered more than $4.6 million to a local organisation, SASSI, to buy and refurbish six homes in the Illawarra. On 20 March, I was thrilled to get a tour of these new homes and hear directly about the impact that they are having. Already, five of the six units are housing women and children fleeing domestic violence, as well as older women at risk of homelessness. SASSI CEO Penny, an incredibly passionate community advocate, has worked tirelessly to deliver not only this project but several others right across the Illawarra and the South Coast. She's not done, either, with more exciting projects in the works, possible only because of the opportunities the Housing Australia Future Fund is providing.

When I was chatting with Penny's team, the pride that they felt at delivering this amazing project was so obvious. From dilapidated units that hadn't been touched in decades, they have produced beautiful, comfortable and, most of all, safe places that local women can call home—an absolutely incredible job by Penny's whole team. I really want to give them the credit that they deserve for their passion in working for vulnerable local people. They are amazing.

While we were there, we met Monica, a humble woman who generously and proudly wanted to show us her new home. Through a set of unfortunate circumstances, Monica, like so many women over the age of 55, found herself without a home of her own, sleeping on her sister's lounge—a situation she knew couldn't go on. She was really struggling. Her absolute delight at having this new apartment that she could call her own, which was full of her photos and her belongings and was somewhere where she could bring family and friends, was so clear. This little unit had changed Monica's life. Having a safe place they can call their own helps these women and children to regain their dignity and to start a new life. It is just the beginning for them. Whether they stay for a long time or a short time, this is the first step in a brighter tomorrow, and I could not be prouder to be part of the government making this life-changing investment in their future.

These were six homes out of 50 in my electorate of Cunningham that our government has proudly invested in, with a total of nearly $19.5 million delivered so far. Penny and her wonderful SASSI team have received another $2,625,000 for eight homes under the Safe Places Emergency Accommodation Program for crisis accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic violence. In October last year, I celebrated the topping out of the Housing Trust Warruya project in central Wollongong. This project received over $10 million under the Housing Australia Future Fund for 27 social and affordable homes for frontline workers, older women and families impacted by domestic violence. The Housing Trust is another incredible local organisation which is working hard every day to support local people in need. Their project Northsea has also received a further $2.15 million under the HAFF for nine affordable rental apartments in Wollongong's CBD. Northsea is one of Australia's first purpose built mixed tenure buildings, with social, affordable and private housing all in the same beautiful building which was opened in December 2024. I really want to thank Housing Trust CEO Amanda Winks and everyone in her team for their work helping vulnerable people across the Illawarra. With the NSW government, we are also delivering 43 new and refurbished social homes in the Wollongong local government area under Labor's Social Housing Accelerator program.

On top of this support for more social and affordable homes, we're also delivering for renters and first home buyers. In my electorate alone, more than 1,056 people have bought their first home sooner thanks to our expanded Home Guarantee Scheme. More than 10,000 local people have also received an almost 50 per cent boost in back-to-back increases in Commonwealth rent assistance, and more than 560 local construction trade apprentices have benefited from $5,000 incentive payments.

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