Hon. MAJ SCANLON (Gaven—ALP) (Minister for Housing, Local Government and Planning and Minister for Public Works) (9.51 am): I take this opportunity to acknowledge the mayors in the gallery this morning and the work that our government is doing alongside them. As part of our Homes for Queenslanders plan we are boosting our big housing build to deliver even more public homes. We are delivering even more publicly owned energy assets. Queensland tradies are on the tools rolling out social homes right across this state. In fact, over the last 10 years, Queensland has been the only state in the country that has increased both public and community housing and we have a plan to grow that further, by building 53,500 more social homes. To help us do that we are growing our public builder, QBuild—the people who build and maintain homes in this state. We have already recruited 300 tradies, with another 500 to join their ranks.
Whether it is QBuild jobs, or our hardworking staff in housing service centres, it is only a Labor government that will protect good, stable Public Service jobs. It means if tenants need maintenance, repairs or upgrades QBuild tradies can do the job. It is why we have some of the best performance data when it comes to vacancy management and tenancy satisfaction in the country. This includes the greatest tenancy satisfaction rates in the country—26 percentage points higher than New South Wales and 17.2 per cent greater than Victoria.
On this side of the House we are focused on growing both public and community housing. There has never been more money available to the community housing sector than there is now under a Labor government. We are establishing a single, modernised housing master agreement to reduce red tape. We are introducing 20-year management leases on new social housing to help the sector invest and grow, and we are stepping in to buy National Rental Affordability Scheme homes with the community housing sector—something we have to do because the LNP scrapped that program. We are focused on growing both community and public housing.
Honourable members interjected.
Mr SPEAKER: Apologies, Minister. The level of conversation in general is too high. I would ask you to take your conversations outside so that we can hear the ministerial statement. I call the minister.
Ms SCANLON: While we are proud of public ownership, we hear nothing but crickets from those opposite. You will not hear the LNP say the words ‘public housing’ because they do not believe in it. While we are taking on multinational mining companies to give money back to Queensland households and to deliver more public homes, all we hear from those opposite is crickets when it comes to delivering a housing plan. Rather than building public homes, those opposite want to hand billions back to mining companies and make cuts to rebates, health, education and housing. Only a Miles Labor government will deliver the social housing big build that this state needs.
