Transcript of media conference with Vica Bayley, Greens MHA for Clark; Tabatha Badger, Greens candidate for Lyons; and Chris, homeless person, Hobart Cenotaph, 16 February 2024.
Vica Bayley
Vica Bayley.
After 10 years of the Liberals Tassie is in a bit of a mess. And when it comes to housing, there is no greater case study about how deplorable the situation is. Yesterday we had an announcement from the Premier, that was basically a reannouncement of a strategy that they’ve already announced and discussed at length in Parliament. And we had been consistently asking the Premier about the funding that underpins that strategy. If the Premier thinks he can wave his magic wand around, and fairy tale up to 10,000 houses with the level of budget that he’s investing in his strategy, he’s dreaming. The reality is $150 million a year will only buy the Premier 3000 houses over that 10 year period, so he’s going to fall way short of his target.
The Tasmanian Greens are here today to announce our policy when it comes to housing, which is to quadruple the government commitment to social and affordable housing to build new, efficient houses so that people can have a roof over their heads. There are over four and a half thousand people on the waiting list for social and affordable housing and they’re waiting over 21 months to be accepted into a government-funded house. Our plan will turbocharge the construction of houses, invest $400 million in in housing over the years ahead and ultimately deliver more homes to more people. Building new houses is only one part of the solution. We’ll have more to say about the situation when it comes to housing more broadly. But when it comes to building social and affordable housing, the Greens are announcing today a policy to turbocharge construction, to invest an additional $250 million. So, bringing it up to $400 million in social and affordable housing and ultimately find more homes for more people.
Additionally, the Greens are announcing $15 million a year to establish a Department of Public Works. This is to ensure that the government can build these houses itself. It’s not necessarily can’t leave it to the private sector to build these houses, including delivering profit margins for those businesses. A Department of Public Works will put building back into the hands of the government. Everybody knows how difficult it is to get a tradie and for the government to establish a Department of Public Works that builds these homes itself means that we can deliver these homes in a timely manner and an efficient cost effective manner to the standards that are expected in the 21st century. So Tabatha Badger candidate for Lyons.
Tabatha Badger
Tabatha Badger.
Chris’s story of homelessness and having to stay in a caravan park is an all-too-familiar one. And it’s something that we’re seeing right across the electorate of Lyons from the Derwent Valley, up to Deloraine in the Meander Valley, right down the whole of the east coast, caravan parks are housing homeless Tasmanians. That is not the role of tourists caravan parks, that is the role for a government. For the last 10 years the Liberals have failed Tasmanians to pick up this basic and fundamental human right. We can change the government, we’ve got an intergenerational opportunity at this electorate to make sure that we have the Greens in the balance of power to create sensible change for Tasmanians, to have essential services like housing at the forefront. This policy is a really clear example of a sensible and tangible pathway to get there.
Vica Bayley
And Chris, a constituent struggling with housing issues.
Chris
Good afternoon, everyone. I really didn’t want to be here today to talk about this. No one, certainly me, doesn’t want to step up and say that I’m struggling and you know, times are tough, because I’ve come from an era where you’ve just got to get on with it. But it’s just with the whole way society is with our costs spiraling out of control right across the board, and housing especially, it just took me a couple of traumatic circumstances 12 years ago to snowball five years down the track from that into homelessness and marriage separations and losing my children. And then – I’m a full-time worker, I move around a lot for my work, but I earn good income so I’m able to support myself well – I’ve got a chance to get back to housing, but of course, housing just gets more are more expensive every year. I realised, when I found the Greens earlier this week, that even though I’ve got all that and I’m earning good income, I’m still … there is just years of living in a caravan or even to afford a block of land. I can’t really see any escape from the cycle that I’m in.
So I just reached out to the Greens and have reached out to the other ministers within Liberal and Labor Party. They don’t want to talk to you, they don’t, you know, I’m just a number. But the Greens party have really had some impactful phone calls with me because they listened to me as a person. That’s pretty rare in my experience in the last five, six years, that’s pretty rare thing. And as you can see around us, you know, there’s a lot of people in much, much, much worse circumstances with no real way out. So that’s why I’m here today to, to hopefully, you know, let people think that this can happen to any one of us in life, if the right circumstances, well actually the wrong circumstances, come along. And you end up in this sort of situation, you really understand personally how hard it is. You can try as hard as you want and work as much as you want yet I know I’m still trapped for a long time yet. So unless we can work our way through affordable housing into the future and hope for the short term future because the only thing keeping me going is to get my home back so I can get my children. I’ve got young daughters, and I desperately want to get them back in some of my care.
Journalist – unidentified
How long have you been trying to get into accommodation that’s more consistent?
Chris
Chris.
Well to be honest, I could actually get into accommodation like a rental. Even though the rentals are really expensive, I can afford that. But the fact of the matter is with that if I do that, I will never – I’m in my mid 50s – I will never have the opportunity to because I will only be able to afford to pay for the bills, the child support and my rental – so I’ll never have any chance of having my own house again. So that’s it, it is a bit by choice for me to live in a caravan. Because it’s the only way within the next five years I can afford to buy something for me, and not get trapped in another cycle of no control of rent, you know, no control of electricity bills, no control of your water bills. At the moment I’ve got some control. But that is all aimed for me to build enough money so I can buy something myself. Because in my situation, I’m also not able to borrow a lot of money either because of my age. So I have to work to make it happen.
Journalist – unidentified
What’s it like in caravan parks at the moment? Are there a lot of people like yourself? Are they outweighing the number of tourists that staying at these?
Chris
No, at most of the parks I have been in they don’t outweigh the tourists. But that is seasonal. So at this time of the year, the peak season, that doesn’t you know, there’s far more tourists. However through winter, most of the caravan parks are empty, or probably 20 30% capacity. So it is more homeless people. And people just living in caravans and tents. So it changes.
Tasmanian Times
You think your Department of Public Works will provide more bang for the buck in terms of building public housing?
Vica Bayley
There’s clearly a role for the private sector in the housing market and the construction sector. But anyone that’s tried to book a tradie knows that it’s incredibly difficult. And so establishing a Department of Public Works will put construction back in the hands of government and some capacity to actually deliver the construction of these houses back in the hands of government and finally deliver the capacity for government to deliver these houses.
Ultimately, it comes down to the funding. Our package is to quadruple funding for social and public housing to $400 million per year. This is to deliver houses in a challenging construction environment. Unless we invest in those houses, unless we actually put the money on the table, those houses are clearly not going to be built. Now Premier Rockliff’s plan is fanciful, his investment in this sector will deliver only 3000 public and social housing builds when he’s claiming he’s got a target of 10,000. The Greens plan is a credible plan to actually deliver the 10,000 homes because we know that there are so many people in Tasmania doing it tough who do need a home.
Journalist – unidentified
How will you fund this plan? Where will you redirect money from, to pay for more housing spend?
Vica Bayley
There’s a range of different inefficiencies built into the housing spend already. But the Greens have got a plan to restructure the budget; we annually present an alternative budget. And it’s about making big corporations pay their fair share so that the public sector can actually invest in public services like housing, like health, and like public education.
Journalist – Imogen Elliott
There is obviously a lot of aversion to doing deals with the Greens from the government and from Labor. How do you think you could convince them to work with you on this one?
Vica Bayley
Tassie’s in a bit of a mess after 10 years of the Liberals, and this is a once in a generation opportunity to change the state of play in this state. We want to change the government. We want to see a change of government and we want to be in the balance of power so that we can negotiate constructively the policies and the positions and the public spending that we’ve been and will continue to put on the table throughout this campaign. It is possible. It’s happened in the past and the Greens have delivered significant outcomes for Tasmanians be it gay law reform, be it gun law reform, be it protecting our environment, be it building more social and affordable housing. We can do this.
The major parties, the Liberal and Labor politicians, need to put aside their negative approach to collaborative politics. They need to embrace the fact that the Tasmanian people may well deliver a parliament that needs to work together. The Greens stand here ready and willing to do that, to work collaboratively across the chamber. We’ve demonstrated over many years and including in the last month that we can do that. We have delivered collaborative outcomes such as a ramping inquiry. We’ve delivered additional days in Parliament so that we can scrutinie the government’s response to the Commission of Inquiry, it is possible to work collaboratively across the Parliament. A collaborative Parliament, a power-sharing arrangement, is a once in a generation opportunity for we Greens to deliver on many of the policies and positions that we’ve held for many, many years.
Journalist – unidentified
Will you be ensuring your policies are costed by Treasury as soon as possible?
Vica Bayley
Certainly, we’ll be submitting our policies to Treasury for costings before the conclusion of the campaign.
Journalist – unidentified
With enough time for the public to see the costings?
Vica Bayley
We would expect so. I mean, we’re still rolling out, there’s a lot of order to go under the bridge when it comes to this campaign. But absolutely, it’s our commitment to give that to Treasury to cost as we do every year.
Journalist – unidentified
What do you think it says about the Liberals that they’ve not really announced anything new apart from a cap on stadium expenditure?
Vica Bayley
We don’t understand the Liberals and their strategy when it comes to this election. They seem to be rolling out the same announcements that they’ve delivered over the last term of Parliament. And they still seem committed to a billion dollar stadium that Tasmanians don’t want and don’t need. You know, Premier Rockliff’s cap on stadium spending is completely delusional. There’s no one except Premier Rockliff who believes that this stadium can be built for $715 million. The federal government’s commitment of $240 million is directed at other areas on the Macquarie point site, and the Tasmanian taxpayer is liable for every single cost blowout that comes. The government’s own modeling demonstrates that over 20 years the project, the stadium, will lose $300 million. Which private sector investment is going to invest in a loser?
