Media | State News

LABOR’S YEAR OF BROKEN PROMISES

20th October 2023

Labor’s Housing Summit delivers only false hope one year on
Labor fails Queenslanders in need of a home

The LNP is demanding Labor explain why so many key promises from its signature Housing Summit haven’t been delivered, one year on. 

Today marks 12 months since the Premier’s Housing Summit and tens of thousands of Queenslanders are struggling to secure or keep a roof over their head as the Queensland Housing Crisis worsens.

One year on, instead of delivering tangible solutions to get Queenslanders into homes, Labor has only delivered failed announcements and false hope.

Vulnerable Queenslanders are still paying the price for the chaos and crisis that has consumed the Palaszczuk Labor Government.

The failed promises include:

LABOR’S HOUSING ANNOUNCEMENT #1
At the first Housing Roundtable the Palaszczuk Government announced it would convert Griffith University student accommodation into social housing in six months.

RESULT: FAILED TO DELIVER
After a little over six months and $2m down the drain, the project spectacularly collapsed.

LABOR’S HOUSING ANNOUNCEMENT #2
At the first roundtable, the Premier announced that there were 90 parcels of land made available by the Catholic Church.

RESULT: FAILED TO DELIVER
Labor has not revealed how many parcels of land have had construction start so Queenslanders can have a home. 

LABOR’S HOUSING ANNOUNCMENT #3
At the Housing Summit, the Housing Investment Fund, first announced two years ago, was “doubled” in size.

RESULT: FAILED TO DELIVER
The fund has not built a single home.

RESULT: FAILED TO DELIVER
The first two projects announced as part of the fund were unit blocks in Chermside and Redcliffe, which were meant to have their first tenants by September 2023 and September 2024 respectively, but both projects have now been delayed by a year.

LABOR’S HOUSING ANNOUNCEMENT #4
At the Housing Summit, the Premier announced that the Department of Housing would work with Australian War Widows to use properties offered by the organisation for housing vulnerable Queenslanders.

RESULT: FAILED TO DELIVER
Labor failed to reveal how many of those properties are now housing Queenslanders.

LABOR’S HOUSING ANNOUNCEMENT #5
In November, the Palaszczuk Government announced a QBuild Rapid Accommodation and Apprenticeship Centre at Eagle Farm, having the capacity to produce one prefabricated home per week, and 80 last financial year.

RESULT: FAILED TO DELIVER
Labor only built two by the end of June, and will now only deliver 30 each year when at full capacity.

LABOR’S HOUSING ANNOUNCEMENT #6 
In January, the Palaszczuk Government said it has the state’s largest concentrated investment in social housing. 

RESULT: FAILED TO DELIVER
Yet, for the second year running a Productivity Commission report revealed the Palaszczuk Government had actually spent the least on social housing per capita compared to any other state or territory.

RESULT: FAILED TO DELIVER
The same productivity commission report found that the Palaszczuk Government had overseen a reduction in the number of Community Housing dwellings. Queensland was the only state or territory where this occurred. 

RESULT: FAILED TO DELIVER
Further to this, State-owned indigenous housing numbers have also fallen since 2018, as well as Indigenous Community Housing. That is despite the government gloating about over $1.6b investment over the same period.

Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli said it was clear after an entire year all Labor’s Housing Summit had delivered is false hope not homes.

​“It’s a year since the Labor Government finally accepted responsibility for the Queensland Housing Crisis yet it’s only got worse and still no one has been held accountable for that failure,” Mr Crisafulli said.

​“The LNP has put solutions on the table to ease the Queensland Housing Crisis, including prioritising infrastructure partnerships with local government to unlock more land for housing, unleashing the community housing sector and setting KPIs and delivering social housing projects on-time and on-budget.”

Shadow Housing Minister Tim Mander said a year on it was clear Labor’s Housing Summit was a spectacular media stunt designed to help the Premier instead of vulnerable Queensland families who were desperate to get a roof over their head.

“For the past 12 months, every metric and measure fell short of what was promised to Queenslanders,” Mr Mander said.

“The Labor Government promised more homes, more land, more construction, more partnerships, and more investment but have only delivered failure after failure.

“After nine years in office, Queenslanders no longer trust the Palaszczuk Labor Government because they can’t deliver.

“Vulnerable Queenslanders are caught in the middle of the chaos and crisis that has engulfed the Palaszczuk Labor Government.”