I rise to speak in support of this petition, and I do so because there is a housing crisis in the State of NSW.

It is a crisis being driven by housing affordability under a Government that is big on talk but small on action when it comes to addressing the causes of this crisis.

This is a Government that loves to boast. This is a Government that loves to boast about how much they are spending on social housing. In fact, in the November State Budget the Treasurer boasted he would spend $182.9m on new social housing.

But one thing you wont hear the Treasurer boasting about is how much social housing he is selling off. Because when it comes to this Government and social housing, the right hand giveth and the left hand taketh more.

In fact, lets look at that $182.9m promised in the November Budget for social housing. It doesnt look quite as good when you understand that in the year before, in 2019, this government sold off $196.8m worth of social housing.

The $112m this Government spent on new social housing in 2019, doesnt look so good when you understand they sold-off $269m worth of social housing the year before.

And the $198.8m they spent on new social housing in 2018 looks down right miserly when you understand they sold-off a whopping $456m worth of social housing in 2017.

And so it goes on year after year, giving with one hand and taking more with the other. In fact, in the 10 long years this lot have been in Government they have sold off $2.1b worth of housing while reinvesting far less.

Housing shelter- is a basic human right. Yet in the State of NSW we see homelessness on the rise. Homelessness driven by housing unaffordability and a failure of this Government to address its causes.

Public housing is nothing less than an essential government service. Public housing is a safety net for our most vulnerable people and when that safety net does not exist these vulnerable people become homeless people.

Stable, low-cost housing is key in addressing issues such as chronic or generational unemployment, supporting those escaping traumatic or abusive family situations, and those suffering from mental health or substance abuse issues.

Public Housing in this State is a shambles. As the Member for Charlestown, I regularly hear from public housing tenants struggling to secure much-needed maintenance and repair works.

I regularly hear from people who have languished on public housing waiting lists for years, desperate for a stable home for themselves and their families.

More recently, I am hearing from women in their 70s facing homelessness for the first time in their lives.

We think of the homeless as the people we see on Eddie Avenue and Martin Place, well this snapshot of misery is now emerging in locations like the tourist destination Port Stephens, where the ABC has reported just this week of a tent city of homeless people.

We are still struggling to recover from the countrys first recession in thirty years, and the proposal outlined in this petition brought here by the Member for Sydney and supported by ten thousand signatoriesoffers us the opportunity to address both the public housing crisis and the economic crisis with one policy.

By building new public housing properties, we can alleviate the suffering of people forced to live in run-down existing properties. We can address poverty by adding more housing stock into the system and get more people out of unstable living situations.

Federal Labor proposed something similar ahead of last years Federal Budgetpaying tradies to help address the enormous backlog of public housing maintenance issues.

Such a program would provide a direct stimulus to our economy and have measurable, beneficial impacts on the lives of some of the most vulnerable members of our community.

This stimulus would flow from the construction industry to every area of our economy, and would demonstrate a long-term investment in the people and infrastructure of our State.

I urge the Government to hear the voices of the many people in unfit public housing properties both in the Charlestown Electorate and across our Stateit is time to fix public housing. Its time to build more public housing.