Better use for debt payment

The Federal Housing Minister should come ready today to cut a deal with the state that did so much to return his side of politics to power at the May federal election.

Housing Minister Roger Jaensch. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

FEDERAL Housing Minister Michael Sukkar should on his visit to Hobart today agree to his state counterpart’s request for Tasmania’s historic housing debt to be waived — or at the very least substantially renegotiated.

As we have been pointing out in our coverage this week, the $157 million debt costs the state $15 million annually in interest payments — wiping out half of what the state receives as a federal housing grant each year, or the equivalent of the cash needed to build an additional 50 Housing Tasmania properties.

Mr Sukkar should come ready to cut a deal with the state that did so much to return his side of politics to power at the May federal election.

MINISTER ON A MISSION TO WIPE HOUSING DEBT

FUNDING AGREED FOR HOUSING SOLUTIONS

And good on Mr Jaensch for holding his ground on this issue. State Cabinet this week signed off on $5 million of additional assistance for homelessness as a direct result of the Mercury’s Give Them Shelter campaign last week. The cash will most immediately be used to pay for crisis accommodation “this week” for those in most need. Bureaucrats have meanwhile been tasked with finding “quickly” about 20 prefabricated units — whether repurposed shipping containers, demountable units or so-called pods — to be placed at emergency shelters to expand their capacity. The minister says that is just the start, with Cabinet agreeing the $5 million would just “get us going” and there was not yet a fully-costed plan.

And so Mr Jaensch could have used the interview he yesterday gave our political reporter Emily Baker to rest on his laurels and simply talk up the package he had successfully taken to the Cabinet.

Instead, he used the interview to repeatedly state that he would be doing all in his power to make the case forcefully to Mr Sukkar today that Tasmania’s debt should be waived — just like the Rudd Government did with South Australia a few years ago:

“We’ve kept on restating our strong preference, our top priority, being retiring this debt so we can direct more Tasmanian dollars to building more houses,” he said. “We should be spending our money on houses for Tasmanians, not payments to Canberra. They’re not telling us to go away, the minister’s listening, and I think he’s really keen to help.”

Mr Jaensch’s strength in standing up for Tassie on this issue is now in stark contrast to his Liberal colleague Senator Eric Abetz, who said on Tuesday — and repeats again in today’s Talking Point pages — that the debt should not be forgiven because it would set the wrong precedent across the federation.

Minister Jaensch said Senator Abetz’s comments had made him angry, as “if we can stop spending Tasmanian money on Commonwealth debt and spend it instead on houses for Tasmanians, that’s what we should be doing.”

Bravo. We agree. As we have said so dramatically on today’s front page, and that we repeat again here for good measure: Hundreds of Tasmanians slept rough last night. Thousands more, including many families with kids, are meanwhile stuck on waiting lists for public housing that is yet to be built. Today, a man arrives in Tasmania who can do something about it. Minister Sukkar can waive a debt that costs us millions in wasted interest payments. And so to him, our ask is simple: Help.