Labor failing to deliver housing for regional Victorians

Pressure is growing on the Allan Labor Government as it fails to act on Victoria’s housing and homelessness crisis, while withholding vital data from the public.

The Nationals’ Member for Euroa, Annabelle Cleeland, said under Labor, housing waitlists continued to grow, projects in towns like Benalla were delayed and over-budget, and data from the housing waitlist had not been updated in months.

“Victorians, particularly in regional areas, are feeling the consequences of Labor’s mismanagement, secrecy, and broken promises,” Ms Cleeland said.

“Families are desperate for housing while Labor withholds reports, misses deadlines, and drags its feet on projects that should have been finished years ago.”

Despite record demand, the Government has not released updated figures from the Victorian Housing Register since March, while an internal report finalised on June 30 remains hidden.

The most recent data shows 66,117 active applications on the register – the highest on record.

Meanwhile, the cost of buying a home continues to soar, with up to 45 per cent of the price of a new property made up of government taxes, fees, and charges.

“This is a Premier who claims housing is a top priority, yet under her leadership, Victoria continues to fall further behind,” Ms Cleeland said.

“Waitlists of more than two years for social housing and people fleeing family violence show that Labor’s failures are hurting our most vulnerable residents too.”

Ms Cleeland said the Benalla West Project was a clear example of Labor’s failures at a local level.

“The Benalla West redevelopment was announced in 2018 with a $10 million budget,” Ms Cleeland said.

“Seven years later, the project has blown out to $30 million, displaced residents from their homes, and is only expected to deliver 48 houses — far from enough to meet the nearly 400 priority applications for housing in Benalla.

“This is failure on every level.”

Census data shows the project site already had one of the highest rates of social housing renters in Benalla, with 54.7 per cent of households relying on public housing compared with just 9.3 per cent in the next highest area.

“Instead of maintaining the existing homes, Labor let them fall into disrepair until they were unliveable, only to then knock them down and start again at enormous cost,” Ms Cleeland said.

“Regional families, renters and first-home buyers are being let down while Labor stumbles from failure to failure.”