Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) Share this | Hansard source

We have projected a need for additional social housing of 93,000 dwellings by 2023. Obviously a great deal of pressure is on the system through the ageing of the population, but we are also playing catch-up because the previous Howard government provided no extra funding for social housing but ripped funding out of the social housing system, cutting $3.1 billion from social housing when they were in government. This led to a loss of 33,000 social housing homes across Australia. They opposed the stimulus—19,600 homes—and of course they had no housing minister and they played the blame game: just blame the states. What will happen again, now we know they have got a $70 billion hole? They will go straight back to housing and take money straight out of the housing system. They have no commitment to housing. It will be the first place they raid. (Time expired)