Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Page is warned. The member will begin her question again.

Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Housing. Some 2020-21 census duty released last week revealed that in Wangaratta homelessness has increased 67 per cent since 2016. With the passage of the government's Housing Australia Future Fund legislation in doubt, I'm worried we will be left without a plan to fix this urgent problem. What's your plan B to guarantee my constituents will have a roof over their heads?

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Indi for her question. I also thank her for her constructive discussions around the Housing Australia Future Fund when we passed it through this House. I thank her for her support for that important piece of legislation. She understands that this is critical to Australia's homeless people.

On census night in 2021, there were 123,000 homeless Australians. It is concerning. It should be concerning to all of us in this place. It's a really serious issue. Indeed, that is why we announced last week some important funding for homelessness services. There was over $90 million for the Reconnect service and an additional amount of $67.5 million for homelessness services in the states and territories. This of course is on top of the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, where we have just offered the states and territories an additional $1.6 billion for the next 12 months. That's $1.6 billion for the next 12 months for housing and homelessness services which we have offered to the states and territories.

Of course this fits with the National Housing Accord, which was in out last budget. The National Housing Accord is for another 10,000 affordable and social homes, particularly affordable rentals, and this will be matched by the states and territories. So that's 20,000 affordable rentals from the National Housing Accord announced in our last budget. We have immediately released the $575 million from the National Infrastructure Facility, and properties are already starting to go up on the ground around Australia today because of that money.

So I say to the member for Indi that I really appreciate this question and that we have a broad housing agenda. Obviously, the Housing Australia Future Fund is central to that, because it will allow us to work with other tiers of government, institutional investors and community housing providers to leverage getting more homes on the ground more quickly. That's why it's so important. As the member indicated, there are vulnerable people right across Australia today who need that legislation through the parliament. So I would say to those opposite to talk to their senators in the Senate and tell them how important this legislation is. If you're serious about housing and the housing situation in Australia today, we need that bill through the parliament.

And I would say to the Greens political party that this needs to be done and needs to be done quickly. We're already delaying this because the Greens wouldn't allow us to debate it in the Senate. So I say to members of the Greens political party to go back to their electorates and tell people that houses are not on the ground today because this wasn't able to be brought on in the Senate. There are vulnerable people in Australia today who need these houses, and they need them today.