Key Points
A Rebecca White Labor Government will make more housing available to key workers in our regions.
Schools, hospitals and key industries in regional Tasmania are struggling to find workers because there is nowhere for them to live. Regional Tasmania has the second-lowest rental vacancy rate in the country.
A Labor Government will work to solve this problem as part of our Plan for a Better Future. Labor will:
- Build 500 additional rentals for key workers over the next five years
- Work with local government and key industries to identify priority areas and suitable land
- Adopt the successful Defence Housing Australia model to ensure an ongoing supply of new key worker housing into the future.
Why we need it
Tasmania’s regional areas are crying out for workers. Schools, hospitals and key industries are facing critical staff shortages.
We need more nurses, teachers, builders and childcare workers – and we need to do more to keep young Tasmanians in Tasmania. Ensuring there is enough housing available is part of the solution.
“A Labor Government will make more housing available to in-demand key workers in our regions”
After 10 years of the Liberals, regional Tasmania now has the second-lowest rental vacancy rate of any regional area in the nation, at just 0.97%.
This is having a significant impact on the ability of both government and private industries to recruit key workers like builders, teachers, nurses and tourism and hospitality staff.
The Liberals have done nothing to fix it – if they haven’t in ten years, they won’t in 14.
By contrast, a Labor Government will deliver 500 rental homes for key workers in the next five years.
The details
Under our Plan, Labor will deliver housing for key workers in regional areas.
We will build 500 additional rentals for key workers, and we’ll work with local government and key regional industries to identify priority areas and suitable land.
We’ll also ensure there’s an ongoing supply of key worker housing into the future, by replicating parts of the successful Defence Housing Australia model to ensure rents and other profits are reinvested into building more housing.
Homes Tasmania will get started immediately, with $35 million to build the first 100 homes.
Labor’s key worker housing program is in addition to the 1,000 rental properties targeted under Labor’s build-to-rent program.