The Victorian government is defending its plan to demolish the state's high rise residential towers, despite new research showing it'll be hundreds of millions of dollars cheaper to keep them. As parliament returned after a month hiatus today, the Premier said critics of Labor's housing strategy were playing politics.
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00:00Melbourne's public housing towers have long been part of the city's skyline and often
00:08home to new arrivals.
00:09They expect that they'll be able to get a reasonable wage.
00:10They expect that they'll be able to get good housing.
00:15But for over a year, the government has been forging ahead with a plan to knock them down,
00:20with these Flemington flats among the first to go.
00:24Part of that work in building more public housing, more social and affordable housing,
00:28more homes for more Victorians, does require the relocation of some tenants.
00:33Our understanding, our report, is the only public document that shows that there is an
00:36alternative.
00:37That report claims it would be hundreds of millions of dollars cheaper to refurbish the
00:42Flemington buildings rather than demolish them and start again elsewhere.
00:47We found that we could save $340 million across Flemington estate through a refurbishment
00:52and infill approach, which obviously is a huge cost saving.
00:56Just imagine the amount of heartache and money this Victorian government could save
01:01if it stopped its plans to destroy public housing in Victoria.
01:05What the Greens political party are saying to public housing tenants, that you should
01:09live on a building site for months and months and months.
01:13As Parliament returned today, the government said it would continue to focus on housing
01:17and the rest of its policy agenda, as there's only four parliamentary sitting weeks left
01:22in 2024.
01:24Meanwhile, the Liberals spent a good part of this morning locked in its party room meeting
01:28as any rumours of John Pursuito's leadership being in jeopardy were put to bet.
01:33Are you happy that there was no spill?
01:35Well, I don't know what all that was about to be honest, but everybody's focused on the
01:39job ahead.
01:40And while the Liberal leader avoided the chop, not so for a Labor minister, Gabby Williams,
01:45shaving her head in support of the state's cancer patients.
01:53And while the Liberal leader avoided the chop, not so for a Labor minister, Gabby Williams,
01:54shaving her head in support of the state's cancer patients.
01:55And while the Liberal leader avoided the chop, not so for a Labor minister, Gabby Williams,
01:56shaving her head in support of the state's cancer patients.
01:57And while the Liberal leader avoided the chop, not so for a Labor minister, Gabby Williams,
01:58shaving her head in support of the state's cancer patients.
01:59And while the Liberal leader avoided the chop, not so for a Labor minister, Gabby Williams,
02:00shaving her head in support of the state's cancer patients.
02:01And while the Liberal leader avoided the chop, not so for a Labor minister, Gabby Williams,
02:02shaving her head in support of the state's cancer patients.
02:03And while the Liberal leader avoided the chop, not so for a Labor minister, Gabby Williams,
02:04shaving her head in support of the state's cancer patients.