❓ The Minister for Homelessness provides an update on the Geraldton Aboriginal short-stay accommodation facility and defends the government's broader housing policies, criticising the opposition's stance on rental reforms.
AnsweredQoN 100Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOMELESSNESS — REGIONS
100. Ms L. DALTON to the Minister for Homelessness:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
commitment to delivering alternative accommodation options across regional Western
Australia.
(1) Can the minister update the house on the
construction of the Geraldton Aboriginal short-stay accommodation facility,
which will support Aboriginal people in the midwest Gascoyne region?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether is aware of any other policies to support and
improve housing outcomes for Western Australians?
100. Ms L. DALTON to the Minister for Homelessness:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
commitment to delivering alternative accommodation options across regional Western
Australia.
(1) Can the minister update the house on the
construction of the Geraldton Aboriginal short-stay accommodation facility,
which will support Aboriginal people in the midwest Gascoyne region?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether is aware of any other policies to support and
improve housing outcomes for Western Australians?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
want to thank the member for Geraldton for her commitment to short-stay
accommodation. As the house knows, we are investing a record $2.6 billion in
social housing and homelessness programs. Part of that picture and part of that work is actually driving the development of
short-stay accommodation. Short-stay accommodation does not get a lot of
attention but is actually critical to providing support for Aboriginal Western Australians.
It is not well known, but we already have three Aboriginal short-stay facility
in WA—in Kalgoorlie, Derby and Broome. We are pushing on and getting on
with the job to deliver more. That is why we made a commitment to deliver the
Geraldton Aboriginal short-stay facility in the member's electorate.
For those who are unfamiliar, this is
about providing culturally safe and secure accommodation. People come in from
country for many different reasons—services, business, cultural and
family reasons—so short-stay provides that accommodation for Aboriginal
people who might not have anywhere else to go or
anywhere else to stay during their visit and in those circumstances may end up
sleeping rough in a town. Therefore, these measures are critical to
improving the lives of Aboriginal people in Western Australia, and this
accommodation will house up to 100 people. I was very pleased to join the
Premier only recently to announce the major milestone with the awarding of the
contract of $24.3 million to the midwest builder GBSC Yurra to build the
Geraldton short-stay facility. I think it is brilliant that an Aboriginal-registered
and local builder has the demonstrated experience to deliver
this type of project. This is an important part of that broader package of
providing transitional housing support and helping with supply.
I do note, though, that today there was another critical piece of
legislation that was about providing security and
safety to renters in the rental market. We know this and I have been on the
record as saying that we face extraordinary times. COVID has radically reshaped
our housing market, and we are deeply aware that the rental market is under
pressure. That is why we have created a rental relief scheme to provide
support. That is why we have created a financial incentive to get Airbnb. That
is why we want to provide a sense of
security to renters so that they can do minor modifications, so that they can
have pets and so that they can have a
sense of home, and today in this house, when the vote came up, the Nationals WA
members opposed it. They are no friends of renters. In the
toughest market we face, they said, ''We don't care. We don't
care. We don't care.''
Several opposition members
interjected.
Mr J.N. CAREY : Here we have
dumb and dumber. They remind me of the 1994 film—the Jim Carrey of the
Parliament. We never said the legislation was about boosting supply. What we
said was that it was providing protection for renters in the rental market.
Members opposite do not care about them. They do not care about them at all.
They come in here and feign concern for renters, and when they have a choice to
give greater protection to renters, they walk out the door. The Liberals did
not even turn up. They cannot even be bothered. The Leader of the Liberal Party
has feigned concern about the rental market. We had a vote in this house on
critical legislation about the security and safety of renters, and she was not
even here. What a disgrace! What a shame that she cannot even be bothered. Not
one Liberal voted on critical legislation to provide safety and security to
renters. There is a clear divide in this house between this side that is
consistently driving reform to boost supply to protect and support renters, and
that side, not one policy —
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
Mr J.N. CAREY : I know that
the Liberal member is getting agitated. I know that she is embarrassed because
she does not have one policy on social housing or renters. Today she had a choice.
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
Mr J.N. CAREY : I know she has
no policies, but today she had a choice to back renters and she did not.
want to thank the member for Geraldton for her commitment to short-stay
accommodation. As the house knows, we are investing a record $2.6 billion in
social housing and homelessness programs. Part of that picture and part of that work is actually driving the development of
short-stay accommodation. Short-stay accommodation does not get a lot of
attention but is actually critical to providing support for Aboriginal Western Australians.
It is not well known, but we already have three Aboriginal short-stay facility
in WA—in Kalgoorlie, Derby and Broome. We are pushing on and getting on
with the job to deliver more. That is why we made a commitment to deliver the
Geraldton Aboriginal short-stay facility in the member's electorate.
For those who are unfamiliar, this is
about providing culturally safe and secure accommodation. People come in from
country for many different reasons—services, business, cultural and
family reasons—so short-stay provides that accommodation for Aboriginal
people who might not have anywhere else to go or
anywhere else to stay during their visit and in those circumstances may end up
sleeping rough in a town. Therefore, these measures are critical to
improving the lives of Aboriginal people in Western Australia, and this
accommodation will house up to 100 people. I was very pleased to join the
Premier only recently to announce the major milestone with the awarding of the
contract of $24.3 million to the midwest builder GBSC Yurra to build the
Geraldton short-stay facility. I think it is brilliant that an Aboriginal-registered
and local builder has the demonstrated experience to deliver
this type of project. This is an important part of that broader package of
providing transitional housing support and helping with supply.
I do note, though, that today there was another critical piece of
legislation that was about providing security and
safety to renters in the rental market. We know this and I have been on the
record as saying that we face extraordinary times. COVID has radically reshaped
our housing market, and we are deeply aware that the rental market is under
pressure. That is why we have created a rental relief scheme to provide
support. That is why we have created a financial incentive to get Airbnb. That
is why we want to provide a sense of
security to renters so that they can do minor modifications, so that they can
have pets and so that they can have a
sense of home, and today in this house, when the vote came up, the Nationals WA
members opposed it. They are no friends of renters. In the
toughest market we face, they said, ''We don't care. We don't
care. We don't care.''
Several opposition members
interjected.
Mr J.N. CAREY : Here we have
dumb and dumber. They remind me of the 1994 film—the Jim Carrey of the
Parliament. We never said the legislation was about boosting supply. What we
said was that it was providing protection for renters in the rental market.
Members opposite do not care about them. They do not care about them at all.
They come in here and feign concern for renters, and when they have a choice to
give greater protection to renters, they walk out the door. The Liberals did
not even turn up. They cannot even be bothered. The Leader of the Liberal Party
has feigned concern about the rental market. We had a vote in this house on
critical legislation about the security and safety of renters, and she was not
even here. What a disgrace! What a shame that she cannot even be bothered. Not
one Liberal voted on critical legislation to provide safety and security to
renters. There is a clear divide in this house between this side that is
consistently driving reform to boost supply to protect and support renters, and
that side, not one policy —
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
Mr J.N. CAREY : I know that
the Liberal member is getting agitated. I know that she is embarrassed because
she does not have one policy on social housing or renters. Today she had a choice.
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
Mr J.N. CAREY : I know she has
no policies, but today she had a choice to back renters and she did not.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.