The fact there are 569 homeless children aged 18 or less in Tasmania today is a shocking indictment of the Liberal Government’s failure over nearly a decade to make housing a priority.
The figure represents a more than 50 per cent increase in youth homelessness over the past five years, and 325 of these children are under 12 years old.
Our children are our future, but these children face a very uncertain future while their current circumstances are so bleak.
4,500 families remain stuck on the social and government housing waiting list, with the average waiting times now more than a year longer than when the Liberals first formed Government in 2014.
Tasmanian community services such as St Vincent de Paul Society, including the shelter they run at Bethlehem House are seeing first-hand the suffering of countless Tasmanians and are working in an incredibly stretched funding environment.
This shocking data is simply deplorable and a sign of a decade of Liberal neglect at both the state and federal levels.
Meanwhile, despite being too embarrassed to mention it in Parliament, the Rockliff Liberal Government maintains its blind obsession with building a billion dollar stadium at Mac Point.
Building housing for 569 homeless children would cost a fraction of what’s being set aside by the Liberals for their vanity project, and should be a much greater priority for a government that is supposed to care about Tasmanians.
Ella Haddad MP
Shadow Housing Minister
