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Showing posts from July, 2017

NSW Budget a disaster for public housing

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NSW has a state budget that’s the envy of the Western World , the government tells us. What budget disaster? Well a budget blow out happens when too much money has been taken and not enough spent. That's not a success, that's greed (and funny how conservatives, those advocates of small government, love to hoard public money in surpluses). Oh the government has plans to spend the money: Photo: MP Dr Mehreen Farqui   But what about those in desperate need of public housing? There are 60,000 current applications awaiting public housing in NSW. With little investment in new housing, what does that look like?  The emergency waiting list for public housing in NSW in most places in 2-5 years. Emergencies – that’s people sleeping in their cars, couch surfing, people escaping domestic violence, families living in cramped motel rooms. Just getting on the emergency waiting list can take several months. You must prove urgent need you cannot meet in the private market and a need to live in