Adelaide’s wife Jennifer Harris has spent eight years in and out of temporary housing, including homeless shelters and living in her car.
Key points:
- The budget of the State SA was approved yesterday
- Some say more is needed to address rent affordability and rising energy costs
- The budget predicts that inflation will rise by 4 to 5 percent next year
He has a medical condition that makes it impossible for him to work full time, which in turn makes it difficult to save.
But after months on the waiting list, he finally moved into public housing a fortnight ago.
While Ms. Harris welcomed the $ 177.5 million commitment from the state government to build 400 new public housing units and her $ 10 million pledge for homeless services of the state, he said, “it wasn’t enough.”
“It will not cover the problems that already exist,” he said.
“More is needed. There are too many families sleeping in their cars right now.
“I know other countries have looked at it and found that it’s really harder to keep a homeless person than to house them, so let’s follow suit and house the homeless.”
There is a six-month waiting list for public housing in South Australia and the additional 400 public housing units will take time to build, with little to no immediate relief to alleviate the growing inaccessibility of renting and squeezing vacancies across the country. state.
Ross Womersley, executive director of the South Australian Social Services Council, said the budget did not go far enough to address the state’s “crisis of rental accessibility”.
“We believe many of the measures are, at best, upfront payments of what needs to be done,” he said.
“We see large investments in public housing and they are welcome, but they are a small amount of investment that is required in the long run.”
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The cost of living is pressing to keep growing
While not even the state opposition could deny that the Labor government’s first budget delivered exactly what the party said it would do, Liberal leader David Speirs said the billions of dollars in health spending would have “consequences” for the most vulnerable in the community.
With the budget forecast to rise in inflation from 4 to 5% next year, Speirs said family budgets would be “under significant pressure”.
Opposition leader David Speirs says he is concerned about the “lack of cost-of-living initiatives”. (ABC News: Rory McClaren)
“One of our real concerns is the lack of initiatives around the cost of living,” he said.
“With the CPI rising to 5% next year, this will put significant pressure on family income and budgets, but this is not offset by any particular program in this budget.”
The government has announced it will spend $ 39 million to double the cost-of-living concessions for nearly 185,000 South Australians, who will receive single payments of up to $ 449 next year.
Rising energy prices add a pinch
Rising electricity prices are another element that is squeezing homes in South Australia.
Energy consultant Rachel Brdanovic received $ 6,000 for her home battery under the former government’s domestic battery plan.
“It definitely pushed us to do it instead of just talking about it,” he said.
“But the other thing he did, in a bigger picture, was that he encouraged battery manufacturers to come to South Australia and did [batteries] much more accessible and much cheaper. “
Rachel Brdanovic bought a subsidized domestic battery under the scheme of the previous government. (ABC News: Eric Tlozek)
Instead, the government has cut back on the former Liberal government’s battery program, as well as another network-wide storage fund, saying the programs were ineffective.
While the government is channeling $ 593 million into a hydrogen center in Whyalla, which it says will eventually bring down wholesale electricity prices, proponents are concerned about immediate prices.
Mark Henley of United Communities said lower-income households “desperately needed support through photovoltaics or batteries for lower-income households.”
“We are disappointed that support for low-income households to adjust to energy costs is not part of this budget,” he said.
The leader of the opposition, Mr. Speirs said the Liberal government had “continuously” looked for ways to reduce pressure on family budgets.
“Whether it’s reducing the rate of emergency services, pushing down water bills, or tackling the cost of electricity,” he said.
“We don’t see such measures here.”