The Hodgman majority Liberal Government is focused on increasing the supply of affordable and social housing and creating a strong and confident society where all Tasmanians are treated with respect.
Tasmania’s outstanding economic performance has not only helped create 15,800 jobs, but has also enabled investment in vital infrastructure and essential, frontline services.
We have had an outstanding year of achievement in the Housing portfolio, delivering our commitments to provide more housing for Tasmanians in need, through our Affordable Housing Action Plans on the back of a record $258 million investment over eight years.
The first Action Plan was completed in June and assisted more than 1600 households. This included the delivery of 984 affordable lots and homes, and a significant boost to our supply of social housing, with 453 new dwellings and 351 low income households assisted into home ownership.
Now underway, our second Affordable Housing Action Plan will further boost the availability of affordable land supply in well-serviced areas of greatest need.
That is why we tabled the Huntingfield Land Supply Order, enabling the delivery of around 450 dwellings, together with open spaces and local business zones to serve the needs of this new community.
We also achieved a ground breaking agreement with the Morrison Government to waive our housing debt of $157.6 million. This historic agreement will free up more than $230 million in repayments, which will now be invested in providing increased supply and access to affordable housing.
The Hodgman majority Liberal Government is continuing to deliver on our commitment to reset the relationship with Tasmanian Aboriginal communities.
One of our commitments has been to review the Aboriginal and Dual Naming Policy, which was finalised earlier this year, and will come into effect with the passage of the Place Names Bill.
In September, our Government signed the Closing the Gap Partnership Agreement between the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak bodies and the Council of Australian Governments. This historic agreement ensures the equal participation and shared decision-making on the Closing the Gap priorities.
In the portfolio of Human Services, we have delivered a new model for extending care for young people in Out of Home Care to 21, providing step-down support for young people in family-based care as they transition to independent living.
We have also successfully introduced the new Strong Families, Safe Kids Advice and Referral Line. This is already showing results, reducing the number of referrals for investigation and the number of children in active transition, providing a more effective system that protects our most vulnerable children.
We have provided more funding for Tasmania’s Out of Home Care system, with additional funding of $16.9 million to meet the growth in demand for Out of Home Care services, and we are also continuing the roll-out of the Strong Families, Safe Kids implementation plan, with an additional $2.3 million invested embedding the principles of the redesign within the operation of the Child Safety Service.
We are also delivering our Plan to provide better communities, and improve the lives of all Tasmanians, investing over $1 billion over 4 years in our transition to full scheme NDIS - a historic reform that will improve the lives of thousands of Tasmanians living with a disability.
The Hodgman majority Liberal Government is achieving these result because we have a Plan and we are sticking to that Plan - in contrast Labor admits it has no plans, no polices and stands for nothing.