Wilkie pleads for action on crisis

TASMANIAN MP Andrew Wilkie has used the predicament of a Hobart family living in a private rental with mould, holes in the roof and broken windows during an address to federal parliament on the housing crisis in his home state.

In a speech to parliament on Tuesday, Mr Wilkie (inset) told of the dire situation some families face finding a home.

He said Tasmania’s social housing waitlist had doubled over the past eight years, with 4453 applicants now queued up and priority applicants waiting on average 67 weeks to be accommodated.

“But of course averages don’t tell the whole story, and I can think of one particular family who’ve been on the priority waitlist for almost seven years, despite living currently in a private rental plagued with black mould, holes in the roof and cracked windows,” Mr Wilkie said.

“To make matters worse, private rentals are no longer an option for many as they are so scarce and unaffordable with Hobart’s vacancy rate sitting currently at 0.6 per cent.

“And for many of the lucky home-hunters, who are successful and do secure a property, the rent is so high that they face the very real decision of whether to forgo medical appointments, heating, fuel or even food to afford the rent.”

He said the time for BandAid solutions had passed.

“At the local government level we need to free up land, facilitate sensible development applications more efficiently and rein in the conversion of long-term rentals to short-stay holiday accommodation,” he said. “At the state level we need more crisis accommodation, more social housing, more supported accommodation for people with special needs, and rent-to-buy public housing.

“And … at the federal level we need an extension of the National Rental Affordability Scheme, an increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance, and deep investment property tax reform.”