'National shame': kids facing life on couches, in tents

Housing and Homelessness Minister Clare O'Neil launches Homelessness Week 2024. Video via AAP.

Transcript

00:00So these are practical problems, but I fiercely believe, as I'm sure everyone in this room does,

00:06that housing and having a house is just not about practicalities. It's not about nuts and bolts of

00:12infrastructure. Housing is the foundation for the life experience of every citizen in our country.

00:18So the housing crisis we're in today is not just a housing crisis, it's not just a problem of bricks

00:25and mortar and nuts and bolts. This is a really deep problem for our country, which is really

00:32about what does it mean to be Australian and what are the legitimate entitlements of Australian

00:37citizens. It is about young people in our country and their legitimate expectation for the kind of

00:44adulthood that they should be allowed to have. It is about the way that wealth is distributed in our

00:49country between the generations in our country, but also the people who will inherit housing wealth

00:56and those who will not. And very relevantly for the people in this room, it is a deep question

01:02about what we are willing to do to help the most disadvantaged and that brings us here to

01:07homelessness. Now homelessness is going to be a pivotal part of the work that I do in this portfolio.