Federal Member for Indi Helen Haines has called on the treasurer and housing minister to push for regional, rural and remote communities to receive equitable housing funding to build social and affordable homes.
In a submission to the Federal Government’s Investment Mandate, the ministerial directive on how housing funding will be invested, Dr Haines was critical of the lack of dedicated funding to build homes in regional Australia.
“I successfully negotiated two amendments to the government’s housing bills earlier this year,” Dr Haines said.
“Further amendments to ensure regional communities get their fair share of housing funding were not agreed to by the government, but I was assured by the housing minister those proposed amendments would be included in the Housing Australia Investment Mandate.
“Unfortunately, they have not.
“This is deeply disappointing. I will hold the minister to her word to ensure regional, rural and remote Australia is not left behind in the effort to build more social and affordable housing.
“The investment mandate is needed to get the government’s housing funding out the door.
“It’s a roadmap for how all the billions of housing dollars will be spent, and I want to ensure regional communities are not forgotten.”
The Housing Australia Investment Mandate only briefly mentions the need for housing in regional, rural and remote Australia, and the guidelines do not explicitly require money to be spent on housing projects in these areas.
Dr Haines also introduced a Private Member’s Bill in parliament last month to address the housing crisis in regional, rural and remote Australia.
The Unlocking Regional Housing Bill would make funding easier to access for social and affordable housing projects in regional Australia.