You're listening to the Weekend collective podcast from News talks'd be.
But where have they gone? What's happened and how what's what's the way forward on improving these numbers even further? And the Associate Housing Minister, Look, he's minister for lots of things, but he's here in his capacity as Minister Associate Minister for Housing. Timer Portucker joins me today, thanks.
Job someone thanks for having me on the show.
Yeah, thanks for joining us. Really appreciate your time. Hey, look my first reaction thirty two percent in just six months. Where have they gone? Have you just turfed them out or something?
No? No, Look, I think we're really focused on making sure we get emergency housing and holding generally back on strap and as a result, we've had a pretty deliberate hand to ensure that those people going into emergency housing have got a genuine need for a short term state. Those that are in house emergency and I'm not supported to get out, and of course the supply issues and there has been a little bit more like come on drink.
So it's a plan is really focused and we really want to make come at a gig of funer and emergency housing come out as well.
So basically have those thirty two percent just moved on to a more permanent and more acceptable form of housing.
Yes, basically that is a Storians have gone through social housing with buying order, community housing providers or transitional housing, and about thirty percent have gone into private housing. Essentially of a surprise to many people, that are a lot of people that moved out or migrate out of emergency of the private market.
So how do we get it so wrong in the last few years.
Well, I think well, it has been a social, physical, and moral catastrophe and I think most of us are aware of that, especially in places like Hamilton and Hamilton West around the MP and drawn a couple of other places where you know there's been a real instancification of BARNO, particularly single mums and single fits and households have moved
into emergency and will let it supplide. So we're really focused on making sure that the people are supported are supported where they have genuine need to be an emergency for a short spent stay, but we don't want it to continue as a catastrophe or claimasy. Is what we've seen in the last fule of years. We've got a target that's to reduce it by seventy percent by twenty thirty and blue suits we're down thirty two percent in the last eight months.
So what assurances are those There'll be people who are suspicious of these headlines. What assurances can you provide that these families haven't been shifted into other precarious housing situations.
Well, that's certainly not the basic space that we're seeing these FINO movements, who most as I've said, either gone into social or transitional housing or into private healthing. There are some people that we don't have data for because there there's no obligation for people to tell us where they are going. But the one thing we do know they go into place warm, dry, secure homes.
So you've also got some tough new rules coming in which will include tougher eligibility and also a standdown week for stand down for thirteen weeks if somebody breaks the rules. To Mutter pH the MARI Housing advocacy group, Basically they've said, please explain. They think that this is a threatened threatening to deepen the housing crisis for vulnerable populations. What do you say, Well, I.
Think it's very reasonable for as as the government to establish some transparency and some certainty around the responsibilities that go with staying in emergency housing. Potentially have been funded by taxpayers and of the government who stay in emergency
housing that are social housing. And for whilst it's important for us who support and staff are those people with genuine needs, it's also important for us to allow out the expectations of responsibilities that those people have to ensure that that doing their best to find or to see where they can secure us more stable housing. And we will provide that type of wraparound support through housing brokers and through some programs to enable those people to be
in that space. And you know, whilst I know that there will be some people that are genuinely concerned that will deepen the housing crisis, I think there is a little bit of resprosibution that's mpoined in that.
I guess the question is, because when you're dealing with emergency housing, we're sort of last resort. How black and white are you going to be following those rules or is there is there something in just saying, look, we're introducing these panetles penalties as a signal on what we expect people to how that we expect people to behave with their own obligations.
Well, I think we know what the characteristics of Fino and somebody Ki and others and emergency housing happen to be and suddenly rather than us in the seminology around penalty, we're sort des privator responsible the step by step sequencing of making sure that the government can do it very big to support people to migrate to a space that can't take on private healthing or move into spatial healthing.
So again I don't think it's in a space where you do something wrong straight away there's a penalty, but certainly it is a gradation, and then it's a warning system that takes place importantly for us making sure that those people that are in genuine need for thoughts and states, and there are many people in that space are supported but are also supported to go out. And what might know is that average day and emergency housing was about
half a year. That's a long time at two thousand dollars a week.
Yeah, so that drop of thirty two six months is pretty dramatic. Can we expect a slightly slower progress on that, I guess from now on or what's your prediction?
Well, yeah, I think it's blue shed. I think it's filly days. I don't think that maintaining that because as pmitive or a certainty, and it may bounce around a little bit. What we're trying to do is make sure that instead of a million dollars a day possible emergency housing, we can reduce it considerably. And where it started when we arrived, there was a million dollars a day, and now it's come down to around half a million a day, half a million a day less as a result of the changes so far.
And are you confident you've got the support of communities and within the housing advocacy groups and other community groups on this stuff.
Yeah. I think my observation is that in a community, housing providers and community groups are absolutely focused on supporting those in genuine need. And that's the same alignment of
objectives that we have as a government. Importantly, with some undertaking some steps recently to encourage more housing provision by community housing providers, you would record a fifteen hundred places that we're going to support their books by community housing providers to enable those that are on the social housing They just felt an emergency to migrate from from that
to extra stage to secure warm home. We've also got the changes for the regulatory frameworks that we believe will encourage landlords and senates to take up more private accommodations.
Yeah, I think.
I don't think. I'd say is that we don't think we have all the answers, and we know that we don't. So there are some innovations or some different ideas that we've got around maybe incentivizing prant landlords or social outcomes contracting that we think need a bit more work, but we would like to investigate there and maybe come back to you later on in the year. Different ways to activate community EWI and other providers to wrap around and get people out of emergency.
Yeah, good stuff. Hey, just one last question. Olympics is over. What's been your highlight? Well it's just about over, not quite over, but we've got maybe some more golds to come, but so far.
Look, I've absolutely been inspired, as we all are over four years by the Olympics, but particularly by our highting etpor our superwoman have won many metal across the disciplines. I think it really is hypament, not ancident, but also the men who are just participating, but also their paro for years. Maybe decades for some people have supported them to get to that clinical of supporting achievements. So I want to shout out not only to their athletes but to they're paro and coaches.
Yeah good on you, No fantastic, Thanks for your time and staff. Noone really appreciate it.
Thanks.
I'm Kaki down Yeah bye bye. That is tam of Portaka, the Associate Minister for Housing.
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen live to News Talk ZEDB weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio