00:01The unprecedented $5.3 billion outlay aimed to increase Victoria's social housing stock
00:07by building more than 12,000 new homes.
00:10But just over two years after it was unveiled in November 2020, the price tag itself had
00:15done some growing, ballooning to a $6.2 billion case, mainly due to rising costs hammering
00:21the construction sector.
00:22The potential blowout was revealed in Freedom of Information documents sought by the ABC
00:27that the state government tried to withhold until Victoria's information watchdog ordered
00:33their release.
00:34They show bureaucrats weighing up how to find $880 million in extra savings, bringing in
00:41volume builders, deferring certain projects and reallocating funding to others, delivering
00:46more homes using a separate fund and asking the Commonwealth for help were just some of
00:51the measures considered.
00:52But the documents suggest even they would leave a $382 million shortfall.
00:58Then there was an option to cut 1,100 homes from the program to keep it within budget.
01:03Instead, the government ended up giving the non-government sector a greater role delivering
01:07homes, which it says means the program is back on track.
01:11The opposition says the government is continuing to cover up important information.
01:16The government needs to explain in a debt crisis, in a cost of living crisis and in a housing
01:21crisis, what's going to be different to ensure we deliver those homes.
01:25We've seen a range of challenges across the construction sector, but the big housing build
01:31is on time and it's on budget.
01:32The Auditor-General revealed some financial troubles when it vetted the project in 2024.
01:38At the time, it warned cost pressures could continue, something that seems increasingly
01:43likely now as war in the Middle East drives the costs of some products up.
01:47But the government insists all homes will be delivered on budget by 2028.
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