Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Since the pandemic began, the housing crisis in WA's north is the worst seen in the region's history, leaving pretty ordinary houses in Karratha with a median rental price of $700 a week. In South Hedland, there's been a growth of 73 per cent in the weekly median rent, from $375 to $650. The housing crisis in regional Western Australia is crippling our towns and forcing out our essential workers, our nurses, our childcare workers and, in some cases, our teachers. WA's housing minister, John Carey, has claimed that those calling for an audit of the number and condition of vacant state houses are 'out of touch'. Out of touch? Minister, it is you who is out of touch. The state government is out of touch for not realising that this is urgent, and we require urgent action. There are currently close to 2,000 state government houses sitting empty and in need of repairs. Meanwhile, the number of people on the waiting list for social housing in Western Australia is close to 19,000. Minister Carey has boasted that the state government has $12.8 million allocated to repair state houses. Well, that is good news—get on and spend it. The state Labor government needs to get its head out of the sand, get out of west Perth, and start taking seriously the housing needs of regional and remote Western Australia.