Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight, 9,729 Western Australians will experience homelessness, and one in four of them will be sleeping rough. Despite all of the rhetoric and all of the stifling hubris from the McGowan government, the number of people sleeping rough in Western Australia has increased by 114 per cent since it came to government. At 25 per cent of people sleeping rough, this is by far the highest number in the nation. Second is Queensland, at nine per cent. These devastating numbers demonstrate the McGowan government's inability to deliver important social programs for Western Australia.

The fact is this: today, over 20,000 households, or 34,000 Western Australians, are on the public housing waiting list. This is an increase of over 10,000 people in just over two years. Under the McGowan government, the waiting list has more than doubled, with many people now waiting up to five years and the average being over two years. At the same time, the number of social housing properties has actually reduced, under the McGowan government, by 1,155 houses. I can't even imagine how they could actually have reduced the number. Shamefully, today more than 1,900 dwellings in the remaining housing stock are sitting empty.

Three years ago, the McGowan government secured the East Perth site to build multistorey accommodation for the homeless in the city. It remains unbuilt. Further adding to the pressure, median rental prices in Perth have soared from just over $400 to nearly $600, and rental vacancies are now at a historic low. (Time expired)