VICTORIAN PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS & STATE MEMBER FOR FOOTSCRAY, KATIE HALL MP:
Good morning and welcome to Footscray. I'm Katie Hall. I'm the very proud local member for Footscray, and we're here at a site which used to be called the Ryco Factory. It was a local icon here in Melbourne's inner west. It was where my grandmother worked. I can't think of a better location for more social housing for Footscray than this location.
We have the beautiful Footscray Community Arts Centre down the road, the busiest train station outside the City Loop up the other road, and access to everything that Footscray has to offer. And I'm very excited to be here with my federal colleague, the member for Fraser, Daniel Mulino, and of course the Special Envoy for Homelessness, Josh Burns, and the Minister for Housing and first Minister for Homelessness in Victoria, Nick Staikos.
VICTORIAN MINISTER FOR HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS & STATE MEMBER FOR BENTLEIGH, HON NICK STAIKOS MP:
Thank you very much, Katie, and thank you Daniel and Josh. It really is good to be here. It's always good to be in Footscray, particularly when we're talking about housing Victorians, because the Carroll Labor Government and the Albanese Labor Government believe that every Victorian deserves a decent standard of living. That's why we are here.
That's why our Victorian government, in partnership with our Australian government is embarking on an ambitious construction of 16,000 new social homes. We're very excited about this particular development here. 124 social homes here in the heart of Footscray, particularly important because a lot of the new residents of this complex here in Footscray will be former residents of the high-rise public housing towers, those older persons towers that are currently in the process of relocation.
Residents will be relocating from towers that weren't designed to age in place for older people to homes that are designed to age in place. It is about giving every Victorian the dignity of not just a modern, comfortable home, but a home that addresses their complex needs as well. And indeed, through HAFF Round 2, this wonderful partnership with the Federal Government, we are delivering 1,275 brand new homes across 25 sites. 10% of those homes will be owned and operated for Aboriginal Victorians by Aboriginal housing organisations.
It is about providing people with the dignity of a roof over their head. It is about having housing that addresses the complex needs of Victorians. And as I said at the outset, we're building 16,000 brand new social homes in partnership with the Federal Government, and we are very nearly about to achieve a 10% net increase in the number of social homes in Victoria since 2020, which is a fantastic achievement. We have been able to add nearly 12,000 brand new homes already to that list. Currently, for the first time ever, we have surpassed 92,000 social homes in Victoria. Next year, it'll be 93,000 social homes. It's about getting the best possible outcomes for Victorians. I'll now hand over to my colleague Josh Burns.
SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SOCIAL HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS & FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MACNAMARA, JOSH BURNS MP:
Well, thank you very much Minister, and Katie. Thanks for welcoming us to incredible Footscray, and of course to my good friend Daniel Mulino, the Member for Fraser, and very proud to be here today. It's a really important announcement because these 1,275 homes are going to be delivered in partnership with the Victorian government, both levels of government working together to deliver homes that Victorians and Australians need, and this only happens if the Federal Government believes that it should be involved in the building of homes directly.
And why am I saying this? It’s because for over a decade, the Federal Government said that it was not the responsibility of the Federal Government to be building homes. In fact, the Coalition didn't even bother having a housing minister. But we are changing that, and we are turning that around by ensuring that the Federal Government is partnering with the State Government to ensure that there are social housing homes, like the ones that are going to be here in this beautiful part of Melbourne, near infrastructure, near jobs, near the community, and integrated into our society, just in the way in which people deserve, because we believe every single Australian deserves a safe and secure home.
We also believe that Australians should be able to buy their own home, and today we are also very pleased to announce that we have ticked over 100,000 people across the country for our 5% home deposit scheme, which is an amazing achievement. It's been almost 300,000 first homebuyers since we came into Government, but since we changed the scheme, it has taken off, and more than 100,000 first home buyers have utilized the 5% deposit scheme, which means people are paying off their own mortgage, not someone else's. I'll hand over to my good friend Daniel.
ASSISTANT TREASURER & FEDERAL MEMBER FOR FRASER, HON DANIEL MULINO MP:
Thanks very much, Josh. And it's great to be here with my Federal colleague Josh Burns, a good friend and also somebody who has dedicated so much energy and policy integrity to housing and homelessness over the last four years. It's great to be with the Special Envoy for Homelessness. Also, great to be here with the Minister for Housing and there are great things happening right across Victoria. And of course, my fellow local Member Katie Hall. And the two of us work so hand in glove here in Footscray.
A great community and one where State and Federal governments are working together, and that is reflected in the comments from all of the other Members who reflected on the fact that in housing, in particular, it's so important that Federal and State Governments work constructively together. What we've seen over the last four years is that it takes the Federal Government leaning in, and as Josh had indicated, that wasn't the case in the preceding decade.
And this project, getting assistance from the Housing Australia Future Fund, is a reflection of how that Federal Government assistance is so crucial. But as Nick pointed out, it's also critical that State and Federal governments work constructively together. As Katie said, this is such a fantastic area for people to make their new homes in, and this development is going to see 124 social housing units and many more on top of that that are affordable and other forms of housing. We're just down the road from one of the busiest train stations in Melbourne. We're near the iconic Footscray markets, and we're right in the beating heart of Footscray's creative precinct. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was down the road, just a couple of doors down, and there was a pop-up cinema. This is going to be such a fantastic place for these individuals and families to make their home, and it's a reflection of the direct benefits for the community of the government's investment in housing.