Tasmania’s public housing plan is ‘a cruel lie’, Greens say

The Greens have crunched the numbers on the government's record in house construction over the past eight years. SEE THE SHOCK NUMBERS>>>

THE promise of a massive boost to social housing construction in the state’s budget raised false hope in the middle of a housing crisis, the Greens say.

Last week’s budget pledged 10,000 new homes in 10 years as part of a $1.5bn spend.

To meet its ambitious target. government will have to build homes 13 times faster than the long-term average the Liberals have delivered so far while in office, the Greens say.

“There is a cruel lie at the heart of Michael Ferguson’s first budget as Treasurer,” Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said on Monday.

Greens MP Rosalie Woodruff and party leader Cassy O'Connor speak to the media at Cornelian Bay on Monday.

“Tasmanians who are desperate for a home have been listening to the Liberals promise to build thousands of new homes for around eight years.

“We’ve crunched the data and over the past eight years, only 578 new social and affordable homes have been added to the housing mix in Tasmania.

Figures supplied by the Greens showed that 941 new homes were promised by the state government in 2016-17, but only 186 were built.

In 2017-18, the promise was a total of 900, but public housing stocks went down by 212.

And in 2018-19 1500 new homes were promised but 697 have been reported built so far.

The state had experienced a net gain of social housing of just 578 in the eight years the Liberals have been in power, Mr O’Connor said – an average of just 72 a year.

Housing Minister Guy Barnett said the targets were ambitious, but achievable.

“We have a target to build 1500 homes by 30 June next year, we have a plan to build more than 1100 homes between now and then to meet that target that 1500 target,” he said

“We’re on track to meet that target and we have a target to build 10,000 homes by 2032. It’s a very big agenda.

“That’s another reason we’ve had memorandum of understanding signed today with the building and construction sector to ensure that we can collaborate work together to meet the challenges and address and tackle those opportunities with both hands.”

Ms O’Connor said too much was being spent on the wrong infrastructure.

“More than half of the infrastructure budget in this state budget is dedicated towards roads but there’s not a single new dollar for housing until after next year,“ she said.

“The Liberals have got their priorities all wrong. So many people can’t afford to pay their rent, people are living in fear of eviction, people are making a decision to move to the mainland because they think that’s where they might be able to find an affordable home.

“It’s not good enough.”

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Originally published as Tasmania’s public housing plan is ‘a cruel lie’, Greens say