Greens offer Territorians practical housing solutions

The Australian Greens have announced a plan to tackle homelessness and long housing waiting times in the Northern Territory during a visit from Leader Senator Christine Milne.

"The Greens have a plan to build more houses and increase funding for homelessness services to help the Territory cut waiting times and get people off the streets," Senator Milne said in Darwin today with Greens Senate candidate Warren H. Williams.

"Labor's plan to create a special economic zone for the Territory has the potential to lead to even more pressure on housing, which is why we need to care for people most in need.

"Housing is one of the basics of life. If you don't have secure, affordable housing then your chances of holding down a job and caring for yourself and your family are greatly diminished.

"Our national Greens homelessness plan would build 7000 extra homes by 2020, with half of these to be prefabricated, and double the current funding for homelessness services.

"On top of this our social housing plan would build 122,000 new homes over ten years, including one-third prefabricated. Prefabricated housing can be environmentally friendly, fast to build and provide manufacturing jobs.

"With a homelessness rate of 15,500, the third highest nationally, and an average waiting time for social housing of 5.75 years, the Territory would receive a significant boost from our package."

Greens Senate candidate for the Northern Territory, Warren H Williams said Territorians were really hurting from the lack of affordable housing.

"We are now in a situation where local people can't afford to rent and there's no way they can buy a house in their own community where they grew up," Mr Williams said.

"There's a seven year public housing wait for a pensioner who needs a one bedroom place in Darwin.

"The Labor and Liberal parties are more worried about the interests of big mining companies; they haven't done enough to manage the impacts caused by all this industrialisation in the North," Mr Williams said.

Contact for Mr Williams: Emily Murphy 0438 866 020