‘Crickets’: LNP must outline cost of living plans, social services chief says
The head of a leading social services body has warned the opposition must outline its plans for cost of living relief in more detail ahead of October’s state election.
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Queensland must “unleash” the private sector to address the housing crisis, Opposition Leader David Crisafulli says, as social services chiefs call for more policy detail from the LNP.
Welfare services from across the Far North gathered in Cairns on Thursday for a town hall hosted by Queensland Council of Social Service to discuss the cost of living pressures plaguing the region.
“We’re hearing crickets from the opposition,” Queensland Council of Social Service chief executive Aimee McVeigh said.
“We don’t know what the alternative vision is for Queensland.
“What we do know is that we urgently need a response to the housing crisis (and) we do need more support for people on low incomes.”
The Labor government recently announced $1000 per household energy bill relief and an “ambitious” plan to build 53,500 new affordable homes by 2046.
These measures were a start but still did not go far enough, Ms McVeigh said.
Labor has built fewer than 5000 new social houses since coming to power in 2017.
“The fundamental issue is that there just isn’t enough homes for Queenslanders,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“The only way to fix that is to unleash the private sector, enable the community housing sector to come back to Queensland and make sure things are delivered on time and on budget.”
Opposition housing spokesman Tim Mander said the LNP would avoid making “reckless announcements”.
“We’ve got to put the community housing sector to work, they are ready, we’ve just got to build their capability and they’ll be one of the centre points of our policy going forward,” he said.
“So that number will be decided, we will make an announcement, we’ll be very transparent about that.
“But we’re not going to go out and make reckless announcements, which can’t be trusted under this government.”
Homelessness has increased by 37 per cent in regional Queensland since 2017, against a national average of eight per cent, according to data from homelessness services.
The number of families seeking food relief has also skyrocketed, going up by 18 per cent in just one year.
A knock-on effect of cost of living pressures frontline services reported was an increase in domestic violence and family problems.
Women’s Centre Cairns recently reported over 100 women and children seeking their services in just one week.
“We know that financial pressure is one of the leading causes of relationship stress,” Relationships Australia Queensland head of operations Chris Le Gay Brereton said.
“So all of that leads to conflict, unfortunately, and sometimes potentially even domestic violence.”
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Originally published as ‘Crickets’: LNP must outline cost of living plans, social services chief says
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