Federal Member for Indi Helen Haines has also spoken on housing issues facing regional people at a recent National Rural Press Club event in Canberra.
Speaking from Victorian Parliament, Ms Cleeland said the marketing efforts of the state government were not contributing to better outcomes for regional communities and families.
“While the Big Housing Build has been well-marketed, $2.8 billion has only got us 74 new dwellings in our state,” Ms Cleeland said.
“New figures released by the Victorian Housing Register confirm 67,120 Victorians were on the public housing waitlist as of December 2022, an increase of 3376 people over the previous 12 months.”
In Canberra, speaking as part of a panel on regional housing, Dr Haines made the case for funding to solve housing issues specific to the regions.
“It’s important when we speak about housing issues, to define the issue we are trying to solve,” Dr Haines said.
“In Australia, especially in the regions, the heart of our problem is a desperate lack of housing supply.”
Dr Haines is proposing a $2 billion Regional Housing Infrastructure Fund, which would fund critical enabling infrastructure to help much-needed housing projects get off the ground.
“We need to unlock investment in new houses by building the basic infrastructure needed for new, multi-type developments,” she said.
“And it would have the flexibility to fund social infrastructure and provide local government assistance to fast-track planning approvals, because that's a big challenge in the regions.”
Dr Haines used examples from the electorate of Indi to describe the issues in housing supply felt across the regions.
“The opportunity for government investment to kick-start the development of the former Ovens College site in Wangaratta for affordable housing was given a national stage,” Dr Haines said.
“The Rural City of Wangaratta has appointed not-for-profit social enterprise Nestd to deliver the project, but $2.1 million is first needed to clear the site, including asbestos removal, before it can become housing for those who need it most.
“Under the current government funding programs, projects like the former Ovens College site are struggling to get the help they need.
“Under the guidelines of the National Housing Infrastructure Facility — they can’t actually access this support.”
Ms Cleeland said shortages in public housing in the regions were having a significant impact when accompanied with the current cost-of-living crisis.
“Right across the region in the Euroa electorate we have waitlists for housing completely out of control,” she said.
“There are hundreds of people urgently waiting for housing in towns right across our region, including Seymour, Benalla and the Broadford district.
“I am regularly contacted by people who are in desperate need of housing, and they are continually being told there is simply no supply to house them.”
Ms Cleeland outlined measures that needed to be taken to improve outcomes for regional Victoria.
“We need to revamp the planning system and ensure obstructive councils speed up approval processes and allow people to buy homes close to where they have grown up,” she said.
“I hope this is something the government is conducting serious work with, and engaging with all relevant stakeholders on, to make sure solutions are not just focused on pressing issues in our suburbs but are developed with our regions in mind.
With strong economic headwinds Ms Cleeland reiterated the importance of home ownership for locals.
“Prospective regional homeowners are being hit with a double-whammy of increased prices and exponentially rising interest rates,” Ms Cleeland said.
“I want locals to be able to grow up, raise their family and own a home in their own community without having to save for decades.”
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