Greens NSW Housing spokesperson and Member for Newtown, Jenny Leong MP has condemned the Minister for Family and Community Services and Social Housing, Pru Goward for pushing through legislation which will force unfair bonds and conditions on public housing tenants while allowing for mandatory evictions.

The NSW Lower House has unanimously supported a motion from Jenny Leong MP, Member for Newtown calling on the Government to treat housing as a Human Right, not as an avenue for profit.

Jenny Leong MP, Member for Newtown put a motion calling on the Government to treat housing as a Human Right, not as an avenue for profit. The Liberal Government needs to take responsibility for providing safe, secure, habitable and affordable housing for residents of NSW.

Greens NSW Housing spokesperson Jenny Leong MP has called the Residential Tenancies Act (Social Housing) Bill introduced by NSW Social Housing Minister Goward today as nothing short of blame shifting.

“This bill is nothing more than an attempt by the Minister to shift the responsibility for the decade long waiting lists and maintenance failures on to the tenants of public and social housing – when really it is her and the Liberals that are failing people.

NSW Greens Housing spokesperson and Member for Newtown, Jenny Leong MP has called out the failure of the NSW Liberal budget to address systemic housing issues while talking up a $3.9 billion surplus.

“It is meaningless for the Premier to identify homelessness as one of her priorities if she is not willing to invest to actually address the housing crisis in our state, especially when the budget surplus this year is $3.9 billion.”

Today we expressed our support for National Domestic Violence Remembrance Day, and called on the government to take a housing first approach to ensure victims of domestic violence do not end up sleeping rough. 

Today’s release of the statistics on Homelessness from the ABS 2016 census data, shows that homelessness and other consequences of the lack of housing affordability are rising unacceptably in NSW, according to NSW Greens spokesperson on Housing and Homelessness and Member for Newtown, Jenny Leong MP.

Responding to today’s release of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Annual Report on homelessness services NSW Greens spokesperson on Housing, Jenny Leong MP and Australian Greens spokesperson on Housing, Senator Lee Rhiannon have called for an urgent commitment to a housing first approach by state and federal governments.

State government plans to allow five more local councils to access Sepp 70 provisions is welcome news but needs broadening, says NSW Greens spokesperson on Housing, Jenny Leong MP and NSW Greens Local Government spokesperson, David Shoebridge MP.

Jenny Leong MP said:

“We welcome to move to increase the number of councils able to access these affordable housing provisions, but given the level of the housing crisis we can’t just be tinkering at the edges.

“This year the Greens gave notice of a bill that would allow all councils access to affordable housing provisions under Sepp 70 not just a select few.

“The greens are committed to targets which will really start to make housing affordable again and that means at least 30% affordable housing in new dwellings.