Failed Housing Minister Roger Jaensch has no hope of meeting the critical promise he made last July to Tasmanians to build 900 new affordable "homes" by the end of this month.
Shadow Housing Minister Alison Standen said if Mr Jaensch was to keep his commitment he would need to meet an impossible target of building at least 25 homes a day – each day – until the end of this month.
"Of course Mr Jaensch was never going to meet his target but more than this important issue being about a broken promise coming back to haunt him, this is about this Minister badly letting down thousands of Tasmanians in the midst of an unprecedented housing and homelessness crisis," Ms Standen said.
"This is a disappointing result from a disappointment of a Minister who today in Budget Estimates has conceded he will not build nearly enough homes to address the crisis.
"But Mr Jaensch has continued to attempt to cover his tracks by deliberately trying to confuse Tasmanians by using tricky language and continually changing the numbers.
"Mr Jaensch cannot deny that he promised 900 homes. He cannot deny he quickly changed his language to include lots of land in that target.
"At no stage - in multiple press releases, in his published housing strategies or in multiple debates in Parliament - were lots of land included.
"So now either Mr Jaensch believes a block of dirt is a home or he deliberately mislead Tasmanians.
"At a time when Tasmanians are sleeping in tents and caravans and sheds and hundreds of others are sleeping rough, Mr Jaensch has chronically underfunded housing, continues to persistently under-deliver and shows scant regard for Tasmanians who are in desperate situations and facing a bleak winter."
Alison Standen MP
Shadow Housing Minister
