Post by Niemmy on Nov 4, 2007 21:44:40 GMT -5
OPPOSITION Leader Kevin Rudd has unveiled a $150 million plan to provide 600 new houses and units for homeless people.
The plan is the latest in a series of housing policy initiatives aimed at improving what Mr Rudd describes as a national crisis.
Mr Rudd, speaking at a Mission Australia shelter in inner Sydney, said too many people were turned away from emergency accommodation.
He said Labor's aim was to halve the number of homeless people turned away from shelters each year within five years and close the gap within a decade to ensure all homeless obtained shelter.
"This is all part of reaching out with a helping hand to Australians in need," he said.
"It is part and parcel of our Australian set of values, having a bit of heart and soul and doing the right thing for all those Australians out there who have run into one of life's walls."
Under the plan Labor would invest $150 million to add to the housing stock for emergency accommodation use.
Mr Rudd said figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare indicated that in 2005-06 there were 3383 requests for emergency accommodation that could not be met.
That was almost 5 per cent of the total number of requests for emergency accommodation, he said.
At Mission Australia, where Mr Rudd talked to residents, more than half of all single adult women seeking accommodation are turned away.
"In a nation that has experienced 16 consecutive years of economic growth, this is simply not acceptable," Mr Rudd said.
The plan is the latest in a series of housing policy initiatives aimed at improving what Mr Rudd describes as a national crisis.
Mr Rudd, speaking at a Mission Australia shelter in inner Sydney, said too many people were turned away from emergency accommodation.
He said Labor's aim was to halve the number of homeless people turned away from shelters each year within five years and close the gap within a decade to ensure all homeless obtained shelter.
"This is all part of reaching out with a helping hand to Australians in need," he said.
"It is part and parcel of our Australian set of values, having a bit of heart and soul and doing the right thing for all those Australians out there who have run into one of life's walls."
Under the plan Labor would invest $150 million to add to the housing stock for emergency accommodation use.
Mr Rudd said figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare indicated that in 2005-06 there were 3383 requests for emergency accommodation that could not be met.
That was almost 5 per cent of the total number of requests for emergency accommodation, he said.
At Mission Australia, where Mr Rudd talked to residents, more than half of all single adult women seeking accommodation are turned away.
"In a nation that has experienced 16 consecutive years of economic growth, this is simply not acceptable," Mr Rudd said.