Job not done yet, Minister

This housing crisis is very real, as is the Mercury’s commitment to doing something about it. Minister Michael Sukkar can rest assured this will not be the last time he hears from us.

Federal Housing Minister Michael Sukkar.

GOOD on federal Housing Minister Michael Sukkar for fronting up in Hobart yesterday and for (at least saying he is) taking seriously the genuine pleas for help from Tasmania around the issues of homelessness and housing.

As we have now said so many times in this column over the past fortnight as we have rolled out our Give Them Shelter campaign, this crisis in Tassie is very real. Not only are hundreds of people now sleeping rough, unable to find crisis accommodation — but thousands more are stuck in limbo, either on public housing lists or simply unable to afford the rent any more.

It was therefore a shame Mr Sukkar was unable to respond during his visit in definitive terms to requests that the state’s housing debt to Canberra be waived.

WE’VE HAD THE TALK, NOW WALK THE WALK

SUKKAR LEAVES DOOR OPEN ON RETIRING DEBT

Doing so would allow the $15 million in interest payments on that debt each year to be diverted to real spending on housing. Remember, the repayments on the debt — incurred between the 1950s and 1980s — eat up the equivalent of half of the federal housing grant payments made to Tasmania annually. It would fund an additional 50 public housing properties.

State Housing Minister Roger Jaensch is serious about making the case to Minister Sukkar that the debt should be waived — as was done by the Rudd Government with South Australia. A middle ground alternative could be that the interest rates applied to the debt are reduced, freeing up at least a sizeable proportion of the $15 million for spending on public housing and crisis accommodation now.

Minister Sukkar says only that nothing is on or off the table in relation to the debt. He points out that the decision would be one to be made as part of the Budget process, and would also be a call not made lightly considering there is $2.2 billion in similar housing debts owed by all the states in total. But his position during his visit yesterday was certainly far less absolute than that expressed so controversially this week by Tasmanian Liberal Senator Eric Abetz, which is good.

The Mercury accepts there is a process before the Federal Government can waive the debt. But we also demand that it be done. This is a historic debt of a size that is all but insignificant in terms of the $500 billion the Federal Government will spend this year. In fact, it’s 0.03 of 1 per cent of that expenditure.

We support Minister Jaensch’s strategy to not back down on his calls for this debt to be waived. In fact, we urge him to keep up the fight. Our dramatic front page yesterday brought national attention to this crisis, and the need for Canberra to help. But that was just one day. And if all Tasmanians don’t keep the pressure up over coming weeks and months it will be easy for Minister Sukkar to move on to the next crisis.

And so we should thank him for visiting. That’s because Minister Sukkar does deserve credit for coming to Tassie so early in his tenure as federal Housing Minister and to attend — albeit remarkably briefly — the Hobart City Council’s summit. There is nothing like actually seeing for yourself the challenges when it comes to understanding what needs to be done. It is also welcome that he has directed the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation to consider Tasmania’s case as a priority.

But we promise him that we will not let up. This crisis is very real, as is the Mercury’s commitment to doing something about it. Minister Sukkar can rest assured this will not be the last time he hears from us.