Tasmanians on endless waitlist for housing

Tasmanian Labor

After nearly ten years of a Liberal Government, thousands of Tasmanians are stuck on an endless waitlist for suitable social housing.

Today Rebecca White and I met with one of those Tasmanians, Lorraine McGovern who is 74 and struggles to access her government managed house after suffering a number of strokes which have affected her mobility.

Ms McGovern needs a transfer to a home which suits her mobility needs. She has applied for a transfer with letters of support from her GP, the hospital and her psychiatrist, but Housing Connect have been unable to give her any idea whatsoever on when she is likely, if ever, to be approved for a transfer.

She was originally told to start packing so she has some half-packed boxes around the house, but is now stuck in housing-limbo with no end in sight.

Meanwhile, her mobility restrictions mean she struggles daily just to get around.

The Liberal government continues to fail Tasmanians in need of secure housing, with the latest Housing Dashboard showing both the waitlist and wait time for housing have hit new record highs.

This crisis has happened over almost ten years of Liberal government, but instead of taking the action needed to fix it, they have simply sat by and watched as it gets worse and worse.

It’s pretty clear that if they haven’t fixed it by now, they never will.

Ella Haddad MP

Shadow Housing Minister

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