 Minister must return from Sydney Minister’s meeting with a result for Tasmania

 Meeting comes as still much to be done on affordable housing strategy

 Past experience shows Hodgman Government weak at national negotiation

Housing Minister Jacqui Petrusma needs to demonstrate to Tasmania that she is serious about tackling housing affordability and homelessness when she meets with her federal and state counterparts at an important Ministerial Council in Sydney tomorrow.

Shadow Housing Minister Josh Willie said it was critical that Mrs Petrusma at least attempt to negotiate for Tasmanians facing a growing affordability problem while she was failing to make a real difference in her promise to assist 1,600 vulnerable families.

“Tomorrow this Minister has the opportunity to go into bat for Tasmanian families struggling to put a roof over their heads,” Mr Willie said.

“She also has the chance to do better than the hopeless past efforts of her boss the Premier in negotiating with Canberra in such crucial areas as health and education funding. Mrs Petrusma must fight for the protection of funding under the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness.

“There is a very real and very reasonable expectation that Mrs Petrusma will take Tasmania’s case to the Federal Housing Minister who will be at the same table along with Housing Ministers from each of the other states.

“If together they cannot agree on a clear path forward on housing affordability and homelessness, they will have botched the chance to increase affordable housing stock for Australians throughout the nation.

“More to the point, Mrs Petrusma will have failed to address this growing problem in Tasmania.

“She has to show Tasmanians she is serious about housing affordability and homelessness and that she is serious about her commitment to her strategy to deliver 900 new homes and help 1,600 families by mid-2019.

“The best that she has been able to offer in just the last week is that “solid progress” has been made but that progress has amounted to only 172 households receiving assistance since she became the responsible Minister and the government is a very long way from meeting its target.

“It’s not good enough that such little progress has been made and tomorrow Mrs Petrusma has no option but to deliver for Tasmania and our most vulnerable families – if she fails to make the state heard, Tasmanians can have little confidence she is genuine in her promise to deliver.”
Josh Willie MP Shadow Minister for Housing, Disability and Child Safety