Kylie Lang: Govt taking us for mugs, again, on 500-home pledge

There is no way in hell the Government’s pledge to build 500 social homes by 2025 will make a decent dent in our shameful housing crisis, writes Kylie Lang. But we’ll be lucky to see a handful reach completion in that time frame anyway.

• 500 homes: Budget’s $320m housing boost
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Taken for mugs, again. There is no way in hell the Palaszczuk Government’s pledge to spend $322m to build 500 social homes by 2025 will make a decent dent in our state’s shameful housing crisis.

For a start, 500 homes will not be enough, and given the government’s appalling track record of building homes at a snail’s pace, we’ll be lucky to see a handful reach completion in that time frame.

Meanwhile, Queenslanders are sleeping in tents and cars as politicians enjoy a roof over their own heads and wouldn’t know the first thing about housing insecurity.

A social housing complex on Ross River Road in Townsville. Picture: Shae Beplate.

QCOSS CEO Aimee McVeigh has today slammed the announcement ahead of tomorrow’s state budget.

“We need at least 2700 extra social homes annually, and more than 6000 social and affordable new homes each year across Queensland, on top of what has already been promised, not an extra 500,” Ms McVeigh said.

“The Queensland Government has been building social and affordable housing at a glacial pace – at a much slower pace than what the private sector is delivering.”

As has been well-documented, it is spending less than any other state per capita on social housing, and Ms McVeigh said it needed to build at least 50 homes per week, not the 10 or so it had been averaging.

Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon and Treasurer Cameron Dick announcing funding for emergency accommodation, Eight Mile Plains. Picture: Liam Kidston

Fat chance of that happening.

As per usual, this government seeks to put image above substance.

It is trying to look like it’s doing something positive when in fact it is delivering far too little, too late.

Our housing crisis is statewide, not only in the bigger cities, and short and long-term solutions that go beyond piffling cash outlays are required.

Instead, we are insulted with tokenism.

Shadow Minister for Housing Tim Mander said Palaszczuk’s Labor consistently failed to deliver.

Referencing other dud performance in this space, Mr Mander said it promised 80 prefab homes this financial year but only completed two.

It promised to convert Griffith University student accommodation into social housing in six months, before canning it a year later, with $2m – of taxpayer dollars – down the drain.

And despite its claims to have delivered more than 4000 new social homes, the Productivity Commission found the real figure was just 1395 in eight years.

With new data showing a population explosion in Queensland, it is clear that the Palaszczuk Government is completely unable to manage it, let alone help the already untenable number of people struggling.