Minister for Housing (Victoria)

In the Victorian political system, the State Minister for Housing is a State Government cabinet position responsible for Housing. The Minister for Housing is responsible for the Office of Housing (formerly the Victorian Housing Commission); and is one of four state ministers responsible for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

The Housing Commission of Victoria was established in 1938.[1] Its stated purpose of improving existing housing and to provide adequate housing for people of limited means (public housing).[2] The Commission ceased to exist in 1984, as it became the Office of Housing. Housing Commission remains the common colloquial term for public housing estates and developments in Victoria, particularly the inner city tower estates built in the late 1950s and 1960s by Liberal State Governments.

The Housing Commission towers were planned as a major capital work solution to urban ghettoisation. These 20 storey towers loom over many of the inner suburbs in Melbourne, and are usually built in 2–6 tower configurations. Many blocks of occupied terrace and worker cottage style housing were cleared and towers of 10 apartments a floor built, surrounded by gardens and car parks. The future high property value of the former types of housing and the gentrification of inner urban areas was not foreseen. Opponents of these projects claimed that the towers were merely turning the slums upright. One of the more vocal anti-tower campaigners in the 1960s, Barry Pullen, later became a Minister for Housing in the Cain Labor Government. Crime and substance abuse problems on the estates have indeed fluctuated to high levels over the years, as different governments apply policies to renew the residential environments.

The Victorian Minister for Housing was at the centre of the Victorian land scandals of 1973–82.[3]

The Victorian Minister for Housing is also responsible for homelessness and the Residential Tenancies Act (the laws governing domestic renting in Victoria).[4] Today the Office of Housing is Victoria's largest landlord, and is responsible for around 73,000 properties (23,000+ in regional Victorian towns and rural communities, 7,000+ inner city high-rise flats, 40,000+ houses, units and flats across suburban Melbourne, 1,700+ rooming house rooms and 1,800 moveable units).

Victorian State Ministers for Housing since 1945
MemberPartyTerm
  Sir William Haworth Liberal 1945
  Bill Barry Labor 1945–1947
  Sir Arthur Warner Liberal Country 1947–1950
  Ivan Swinburne Country 1950–1951
  William Dawnay-Mould Liberal Country 1952
  Tom Hayes Labor 1952–1955
  John Sheehan Labor 1955
  Sir Thomas Maltby Liberal Country 1955
  Sir Horace Petty Liberal 1955–1961
  Lindsay Thompson Liberal 1961–1967
  Edward Meagher Liberal 1967–1972
  Vance Dickie Liberal 1972–1976
  Geoff Hayes Liberal 1976–1979
  Brian Dixon Liberal 1979–1981
  Jeff Kennett Liberal 1981–1982
  Ian Cathie Labor 1982–1985
  Frank Wilkes Labor 1985–1987
  Bunna Walsh Labor 1987–1988
  Barry Pullen Labor 1988–1990
  Tony Sheehan Labor 1990–1991
  Andrew McCutcheon Labor 1991–1992
  Rob Knowles Liberal 1992–1996
  Ann Henderson Liberal 1996–1999
  Bronwyn Pike Labor 1999–2002
  Candy Broad Labor 2002–2006
  Richard Wynne Labor 2006–2010
  Wendy Lovell Liberal 2010–2014
  Martin Foley Labor 2014–2018
  Richard Wynne Labor 2018–present

See also

References
  1. THE RELUCTANT LANDLORDS? A History Of Public Housing In Australia, David Hayward Archived 2007-09-01 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Australian Science at Work Register, The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre, AustehcWeb, 2000–2007
  3. Wayward governance – illegality and its control in the public sector, P N Grabosky, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra, 1989.
  4. A list of Victorian legislation covered by the Minister of Housing's portfolio
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