Housing Amendment (Community Housing Providers) Bill 2007 
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| Tuesday, 16 October 2007 | ||||||
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Mr MIKE BAIRD (Manly) [9.13 p.m.]: I speak on the Housing Amendment (Community Housing Providers) Bill because we have been elected to represent those who are far less privileged than many of us in this House. I am glad that the Minister for Housing is at the table because this is an issue of grave concern not only to me but also to many people on the northern beaches. I am sure that the Minister is aware of the statistics that each night in Sydney only one-third of the people who need a bed in community housing get one. That means that two-thirds do not. In Manly people sleep in the grandstands of Manly Oval, in the bus shelters and many spots around the community because they have nowhere else to go. There is a community housing crisis and Northern Sydney is being neglected. I've seen a Department of Planning map which basically draws a line from Coogee to Baulkham Hills—there's an assumption that because the average person earns more in Northern Sydney there are no needs north of that line. But there are pockets of poverty in all parts of the State. Ms Angela D'Amore: That is why the Minister is going to increase it from 13,000 to 30,000. Mr MIKE BAIRD: I will keep him accountable. The Minister must represent in Cabinet the people who attend the centre looking for a bed. The onus is on the Minister to fight for them because this is not a game. The Minister cannot pat himself on the back for introducing this bill when two-thirds of the people who require beds are turned away. The responsibility is on the Minister to get those funds from Cabinet to deliver the necessary beds and we will be watching the Minister's performance. This is not about spin; it is about delivery. Recently a local social worker came into my office. He was devastated because he had nowhere to send an 18-year-old female who needed a bed for the night. This woman planned to put on a hooded top to disguise herself as a male because her only hope was to try to get a bed at a men's refuge. No young woman should have to do that. The Manly Community Centre has recently set up the Manly Warringah Women's Housing Cooperative and is trying to raise funds from the community because currently there are no options for women who need affordable or short-term housing on the northern beaches. There is a grey area between community housing and public housing. Mr Matt Brown: No, there isn't. Mr MIKE BAIRD: Yes, there is. The waiting list for a two-bedroom apartment in the northern Sydney area is 12 years. A local father has been knocked back for public housing even though he is caring for his three-year-old and 12-year old sons on his own. He had to give up work after his partner died in a car crash when his youngest son was a few weeks old. He was taken off that housing list and forced to reapply after he did not receive a letter from the department because it was sent to his old address. These types of bureaucratic bungles have to be addressed. The Eversham boarding house in Manly closed a couple of years ago with the result that there is no longer any short-term affordable housing available. The community is relying on the Minister to find resources to provide such housing. Fairlight House, which is run by Sydney City Mission, has a few short-term beds but these are reserved for intoxicated males. The women's refuge on the northern beaches can only help women who have suffered domestic violence. In addition, the caseworker at the refuge has been told that there are no longer any resources to support her. Mr Matt Brown: Point of order: Although the member for Manly has raised the legitimate concerns of his constituents he is not addressing the substance of the bill. The Opposition seems intent on flouting the standing orders of the House. I ask you to draw the member back to the leave of the bill. ASSISTANT-SPEAKER (Mr Grant McBride): Order! I am sure the member for Manly will comply with the standing orders. Mr MIKE BAIRD: I encourage the Minister to visit the refuge and meet the people. Mr Matt Brown: And I encourage you to follow the standing orders. Mr MIKE BAIRD: I ask the Minister to visit, but if he does not want to meet the people he purports to represent, then do not bother. We welcome the fact that the Minister recently opened a new property, the first positive thing that he has done, but he referred in his press release to the wrong road. It does not matter where the property is located—it is located somewhere in Manly—because he got that part right. The problem is that that facility provides only 14 beds. Local community workers with decades of experience said this State environmental planning policy must change so that local government can supply affordable local housing. In an article in today's Sydney Morning Herald the Mayor of London stipulated that 50 per cent of all new developments would go towards affordable housing. We will have adequate community housing only if the Minister embraces those sorts of solutions. It is a shame that the Minister is not interested in hearing about people's concerns or listening to stories about individual electorates. I will hold this Minister accountable if he does not go to Cabinet and secure the resources that these people deserve. Add to:          Write Comment
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