The hypocrisy of Labor and the Greens was again on show in Budget Estimates today with both crying crocodile tears over public housing investment.
The truth, that has Ms O’Connor so uncomfortable, is that there is more money in this Budget for affordable housing now than when she was the Minister responsible.
The Hodgman Liberal Government is investing $22.9 million in housing in 2015-16 compared to the previous Labor-Green government’s commitment of only $17.4m, a $5.5 million difference.
This will help to deliver 630 affordable homes in Tasmania in 2015-16, compared to 358 the previous year.
Further, the fact is that after 16 years of Labor and Labor-Green governments, public housing was reduced by 1071 homes, from 14,370 down to 13,299.
Importantly, the Government is developing an Affordable Housing Strategy, which will address homelessness and housing affordability over the next decade.
In contrast, neither Labor nor the Greens went to the last election with any plan to address affordable housing, nor does either have one now.
As Ms O’Connor well knows, and indeed predicted, the move to Housing Connect, our one-stop shop for Tasmanians’ housing needs, saw an increase in housing lists since it consolidated demand.
The difference between this Government and previous Labor-Green government, however, is that we are delivering more homes for more Tasmanians in need.