The Rockliff-Ferguson Government’s shocking inaction on the homelessness crisis has left thousands of Tasmanians in the most urgent need literally out in the cold just as the coldest winter in decades starts to bite.
With 4,400 Tasmanians languishing on the public housing waiting list, and the average time to house them at a staggering 90 weeks, the best the Premier could offer in Parliament today was a commitment to regularly update the data on the housing register, which already shows a system in crisis.
Even when presented with real-life examples of people sleeping rough right now, Jeremy Rockliff offered platitudes rather than the urgent action that is needed – cold comfort to the thousands of Tasmanians without a roof over their heads.
Since coming to office, the Liberals have built just 1,200 new social housing properties, or about 150 a year, which is not nearly enough to address the problem.
If they had kept building at the pace of the last Labor government, there would be around 3,000 fewer people on the waiting list today.
And now, with the coldest start to winter in decades, we have record levels of homelessness and people sleeping rough across the state, with only limited outreach programs funded by this government.
It is simply not good enough for Jeremy Rockliff to say he feels the issue.
People sleeping rough need urgent support right now, not promises that won’t be delivered for years into the future.
Ella Haddad
Shadow Minister for Housing
