Ms JENNY AITCHISON (Maitland) (15:54): It is fairly safe for me to say that when the members in this Parliament end their day, they will either head home or to their accommodation and a comfortable bed in a space that they control. They will choose the temperature of that space, how to secure it and who enters that space. When nature calls, they will have somewhere to go to be safe and private. The home or the shelter that they are in will be affordable for them. It might even be subsidised. These expected facilities of housing we take for granted are not readily processed as privileges, but under this Government that is what housing has become.

Recently Shelter NSW released theNew South Wales Regional Housing Need Report 2021 produced by the Regional Australia Institute. This detailed and focused report examined the broad housing situation across all regional local government areas in New South Wales. The researchers determined the 10 areas of highest and lowest housing needs throughout regional New South Wales. I am sad to say that Maitland was identified as one of the top 10 areas of highest need. In fact, it was placed equal fifth on that list—68 per cent of the people in my community experience mortgage stress and 69 per cent experience rental stress. That is just not appropriate. Real estate agents have told me that it is not unusual for people to apply for 120 properties before they can find somewhere to rent. Maitland is a booming town. It remains the fastest growing city in New South Wales outside of Sydney. In 2016 the estimated population of the region was around 79,000. In 2022 the estimated population is closer to 95,000, and it is projected to increase to well over 100,000 in the next 20 years. Perceived affordability has seen more and more families and individuals stretched to attain the new-build home of their dreams.

Earlier today I spoke about the collapse of Privium Homes and how that has turned those dreams into nightmares. We are very concerned about the lack of housing in our community. Nearly 40 per cent of households have mortgages and a significant proportion of those households experience mortgage stress. More than 30 per cent of their available income is being paid on a mortgage. That is just not good enough. Currently 732 people are on the waiting list for social housing in Maitland. That is 732 people who are waiting for somewhere that they can call home. Shelter NSW currently estimates it will take between five years to 10 years for those people to get a property. What of them in the meantime? What of those who will join that already vast number in the future? At this moment 732 people have a need that cannot be met. Are we expected to always accept that demand will outstrip supply in this area? As reported routes of funding facilities in other local government areas and admitted pork-barrelling are used as a prop‑up for the creaking structure of this Government, are we expected to simply accept that a safe place to sleep is a step too far, unaffordable, unattainable and unfundable for people in our community, and that this Government will not act to address it?

I have had people in my community with dementia who cannot make the transition to the aged-care packages that they need from social housing. They have lost the wraparound supports. I have had victims of domestic violence who have not yet become survivors because they have no support at all. They are being shunted from refuge to refuge, from place to place, from town to town because they cannot get someone to address the post‑traumatic stress disorder and mental health issues they are experiencing and their extreme need for safe and secure housing. That is not acceptable. A gentleman who came to my office all the way from Tamworth literally camped in my front office for a week. He was in such a state of distress and illness, with mental health and drug addiction issues, and yet he had nowhere to go. Nowhere. This is not a civil society. This is a complete failure of our obligations as a community to provide for the most vulnerable in our community. I understand the inherent challenges of the development and provision of affordable and suitable social housing, but we do not come to this Chamber to help people who can help themselves. This Government needs to act urgently for the most vulnerable people in our community. They should not be left to do it alone.