{"id":307351,"date":"2021-10-15T11:13:01","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T01:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=307351"},"modified":"2021-12-16T10:36:53","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T00:36:53","slug":"mayor-issues-invitation-to-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2021\/10\/15\/mayor-issues-invitation-to-minister\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Issues Invitation To Minister"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mayor Brett Otto with Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch in Brisbane this week (Photo: SBRC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

October 15, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

South Burnett Mayor Brett Otto has invited Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch to visit the South Burnett to discuss housing issues.<\/p>\n

Mayor Otto and Cr Kathy Duff met with Minister Enoch at Parliament House on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The Mayor said he had a good conversation with Minister Enoch and said she was committed to visiting the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinister Enoch is fully aware of our housing situation here in the South Burnett, as a result of high property demand and a lack of available affordable housing,\u201d Mayor Otto said.<\/p>\n

His office was now liaising with Minister Enoch’s office to confirm a date for her visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is absolutely vital we continue to work with the government of the day to achieve outcomes for our communities and I know Minister Enoch was grateful for the visit and she said she would visit our towns, too,\u201d the Mayor said.<\/p>\n

Mayor Otto has previously called for “bipartisan support from all stakeholders” to find a solution to the housing issue in the South Burnett.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As at June 30, there were 72 approved applicants waiting for vacancies in the 233 public housing units in the South Burnett.<\/p>\n

It has also been estimated there are between 130 and 150 homeless people in the region, including people couch-surfing, living in cars or sleeping rough.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to highlight to Minister Enoch our situation as well as committing to her our willingness to be part of the Palaszczuk Government\u2019s four-year plan,\u201d Mayor Otto said.<\/p>\n

In June, the State Government unveiled its Queensland Housing Strategy Action Plan 2021-2025 which included a $1.8 billion investment over four years and a new $1 billion Housing Investment Fund to increase social housing stock and increase housing and homelessness support across Queensland.<\/p>\n

The Mayor said the housing issue was a side-effect of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cQueensland has been kept so safe thus far resulting in huge demands for regional housing. There are very few rentals available, and we are actively working as a Council to identify opportunities to rectify this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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