Liberals have heads in sand on housing

Tasmanian Labor
  • More than 3,300 Tasmanian families on the housing waiting list
  • Massive rental stress, with affordability the worst in the nation
  • Why is overdue housing data being kept hidden?
  • Will Hodgman must keep Tasmanians informed about what progress is being made to deal with the state’s housing crisis.

    Labor Leader Rebecca White has called on the Government to stop hiding the details of the quarterly update.

    “Since the Liberals came to government public housing waiting lists have increased by more than 50 per cent, wait times for priority applicants have increased from 21 to 67 weeks, and rental affordability is the worst in the country.

    “On any given night, 1,600 Tasmanians are homeless and many other families are couch surfing, relying on their friends and families or living in sheds, cars or tents.”

    Ms White said the Liberals should provide updated information on their Human Services dashboard every quarter, but it has not been updated since September and only includes information to last June.

    “In June last year, more than 3,300 families were on the waiting list. Our fear is that this number has blown out and that’s why Will Hodgman and Roger Jaensch have not released the updated data due in December.

    “If that’s the case, Roger Jaensch should be upfront, release the data, and explain to Tasmanians what the Liberals are doing to reduce rental stress, and get people off waiting lists and into homes.

    “To date, Will Hodgman’s government has failed to build the number of homes that he promised, leaving more people without a safe place to call home.

    “It’s another example of Will Hodgman failing to look after the most vulnerable people in our community who are being left behind.”

    Rebecca White

    Labor Leader

    /Public Release. View in full here.