THE Logan City and Redlands regions are set to share in a $1.8 billion budget plug for housing.
The state government hopes the investment will deliver more than 5000 extra homes and thousands of jobs across the state in the next 10 years.
Member for Logan Linus Power said the work, which comes under the Queensland Housing Strategy, was aimed at urgently addressing housing affordability in Queensland.
Mr Power said that under the strategy, 492 social housing dwellings were scheduled to be built in Logan City and the Redlands, at a cost of $150.5 million.
Housing Minister Mick de Brenni said it was expected to support 85 full-time equivalent jobs in the region each year for a decade.
“Those new and reinvigorated communities, through greater housing investment and updated planning, will have a better choice of diverse affordable housing with access to transport, education and everything Queenslanders need to live a full, rewarding life,” he said.
“It will help to forge stronger communities across the state over the next 10 years.”
Opposition housing spokesman Stephen Bennett said the pledge was nothing more than a pre-election bid to minimise the damage from doing nothing for two and a half years.
“The Palaszczuk government’s record on social housing is pathetic,” Mr Bennett said. “... Minister Mick de Brenni scrapped 2600 social houses at Logan last year without any consultation and now he expects Queenslanders to believe Labor will build 5000, including 3000 in five years”.
“...Labor now expects Queenslanders to accept an announcement with little detail on where the homes will be built, but trust them to redress the waiting list of nearly 29,000 for social housing.”
Under the Strategy, 492 social housing dwellings were scheduled to be built in Logan City and the Redlands, at a cost of $150.5 million.
The government, facing an election in coming months, plans to streamline processes so housing projects can get moving faster. The election must be held on or before May 5 and the budget is expected to set the government for a run to the polls.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will try to win a second term in the 93 seat house, with some commentators believing the election is hers to lose.
