By KATH GANNAWAY
LIBERAL, Labor and Greens candidates took on the ‘unsexy’ issue of homelessness and housing affordability in a pre-election candidates’ forum at Montrose last week.
The meeting, organised by Yarra Ranges Housing Action Group (YRHAG) to raise awareness and inform both the public and political players in five outer-east electorates of Croydon, Eildon, Monbulk, Gembrook and Evelyn, highlighted the problems, and talked about possible solutions.
Reducing, or doing away with stamp duty, free access to government-owned land for social and public housing, utilising space on top of shopping centres and strip shops, mandating a percentage of social/public housing in housing developments, increasing funding for emergency rent support, developing ‘village-like’ housing, introducing a land-tax to discourage land-banking, and changes to negative gearing, were some of the proposals put forward during the night.
Lisa Stockheim, manager Housing and Support with Anchor Inc., Steve Staikos from Community Housing Federation of Victoria and Yarra Ranges mayor Fiona McAllister, laid the foundation for a representative of each of the participating parties to, first, put their party’s policy, and then answer questions from the floor.
Mr Staikos said the housing, homelessness and family violence community sector organisations were crying out to both the Labor and Liberal parties to recognise the importance of affordable housing and particularly social housing for people on the lowest incomes.
“There is a gross under-supply in all of Victoria, but particularly in the outer east of Melbourne and we are seeking innovative ways to address the crisis,” he said.
He said there needed to be collaboration between government and not-for-profit organisations to address the issue together.
Ms Stockheim spoke of the importance of supporting organisations.
“More and more local agencies are supporting people to fill prescriptions, buy fuel, fresh fruit and vegetables, provide hot meals, pay bills … all these things that help them then put their money to paying their rent,” she said.
Christine Fyffe (Liberal Member Evelyn), Sally Brennan (Labor candidate Eildon) and Mike Clark (Greens candidate Monbulk) spoke on behalf of their parties.
Sandra Betts (Greens candidate Evelyn), Andrea Millsom (Greens candidate Eastern Victoria) and Peter Harris (Labor candidate Evelyn) also attended.
Mr Clark identified the need for increased funding to reduce housing lists that he said at June 2010 had half a million people on waiting lists. He called for new developments to include 20 per cent social housing and a scaling back of the Bushfire Management Overlay (BMO) to make housing more affordable in Yarra Ranges.
Ms Brennan said a first priority for Labor would be to increase housing stocks, and agreed that the BMO was an issue in Eildon.
She said cuts to funding for services that supported individuals – such as mental health and community legal services – jeopardised the capacity of low-income individuals and families to stay in housing.
She said another initiative she would be pushing was to see a cap on 25 per cent of income for tenants in public housing.
Ms Fyffe went over her government’s track record, but also put forward some thoughts of her own, including reassessing public housing as families change in size – down and up.
She spoke of the need to look at the needs of women and single men coming to the end of their working life, as well as pensioners.
Peter Harris called for a bi-partisan approach, saying governments need to admit that they don’t have all the answers and work to bring about real and sustainable change.
The reality check came from a Warburton resident who didn’t want to be identified but who said he had worked with homeless people from Melbourne to the Yarra Valley over a number of years.
He said he found himself agreeing with all three candidates.
“What we have here is solutions to the problem and local communities and local people all talking about the same thing. But, it’s not happening at that higher level; something happens when people get into government,” he said.
He said social, public and private rental were all models that worked but needed people to get in, get it done and push it with governments.
“We have had one review after another. I don’t have a lot of faith in that higher level of government, but I have faith in the local level.
“We need to advocate the hell out of that,” he said.
