3 years ago
BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING TO SAVE TRADIE JOBS
JASON CLARE MP
Mayors from capital cities across Australia have today backed Labor’s call for the Morrison Government to urgently fund more social housing to save housing construction jobs and put a roof over the head of homeless Australians.
Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp today told the Parliamentary Inquiry into Homelessness in Australia that before the pandemic there were approximately 1000 people sleeping rough in five inner city council areas.
98 per cent of these rough sleepers are currently being temporarily housed in empty hotel and motel rooms.
Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore also confirmed that most rough sleepers in the City of Sydney have been temporarily housed in empty hotel and motel rooms.
This shows that if we really want to we can significantly reduce the number of Australians sleeping rough.
Now we are at a crossroads.
Do we let these Australians just go back to sleeping on the street or in the park or do we provide them with a more permanent roof over their head?
State Governments have done some important work here, but we really need a bit of national leadership.
Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore told the Inquiry:
“if the Federal Government is considering infrastructure projects, we think there could be nothing more worthy than social housing projects and affordable housing projects in terms of jobs in the construction industry post-COVID.”
Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp told ABC radio this morning:
“this can create stimulus in terms of jobs, not just in construction but right across the board...”
Labor has been calling on the Morrison Government for months to invest in more social housing.
Housing construction work is about to fall off a cliff and the HomeBuilder Scheme is badly targeted and inadequate, and doesn’t go far enough.
Building more social housing would be a win-win. It will keep more tradies working and it will help put a roof over the head of Australians who desperately need it.
Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp today told the Parliamentary Inquiry into Homelessness in Australia that before the pandemic there were approximately 1000 people sleeping rough in five inner city council areas.
98 per cent of these rough sleepers are currently being temporarily housed in empty hotel and motel rooms.
Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore also confirmed that most rough sleepers in the City of Sydney have been temporarily housed in empty hotel and motel rooms.
This shows that if we really want to we can significantly reduce the number of Australians sleeping rough.
Now we are at a crossroads.
Do we let these Australians just go back to sleeping on the street or in the park or do we provide them with a more permanent roof over their head?
State Governments have done some important work here, but we really need a bit of national leadership.
Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore told the Inquiry:
“if the Federal Government is considering infrastructure projects, we think there could be nothing more worthy than social housing projects and affordable housing projects in terms of jobs in the construction industry post-COVID.”
Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp told ABC radio this morning:
“this can create stimulus in terms of jobs, not just in construction but right across the board...”
Labor has been calling on the Morrison Government for months to invest in more social housing.
Housing construction work is about to fall off a cliff and the HomeBuilder Scheme is badly targeted and inadequate, and doesn’t go far enough.
Building more social housing would be a win-win. It will keep more tradies working and it will help put a roof over the head of Australians who desperately need it.