Scott Morrison Is Wrong: Victoria Has Signed National Deal On Homelessness

The Federal Minister for Social Services, Scott Morrison, has today wrongly accused the Andrews Labor Government of not signing up to the 2015-17 National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (NPAH).

Victoria only received the agreement last week and signed it on June 30.

Victoria was concerned about delays to the agreement caused by the Federal Government and was forced to arrange interim finance for homelessness services to tide them over.

Victoria’s housing and homelessness budget has been cut by $470 million over four years during the term of the previous State Liberal Government.  This has forced more Victorians to turn for support to homelessness services, which have also been cut by the Abbott Government by over $1 million a year under the new NPAH.

Victoria wanted to extend the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness for another three years to provide the sector with more certainty, but the Abbott Government’s two-year funding offer once again falls short of what is required.

The Abbott Government claims that it is giving priority to young people, and women and children experiencing family violence, but is not offering any extra funding for these priority groups.

It is time for the Abbott Government to make people fleeing family violence a genuine priority by allocating extra funding.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Housing, Ageing and Disability, Martin Foley

“Scott Morrison is simply wrong, and it shows that the Abbott Government is more interested in playing politics than actually helping the homeless, many of whom are women escaping family violence.” 

“If Scott Morrison was serious about supporting the homeless he would reverse the cuts his government has made to Victoria’s housing and homelessness budget.”

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