Ms THEOPHANOUS (Northcote): My question is for the Minister for Housing. The Northcote electorate will have two public housing locations redeveloped under the public housing renewal program: Walker Street in Northcote and at Preston. I visited the Walker Street estate recently and was welcomed into the home of William, who has lived there with his family for many years. It was a rainy day, but I was struck by how proud William was of his home. Metaphorically it was a warm place, but there was no mistaking that the temperature was cold. These building are more than 50 years old and well below our modern standards of comfort. The bones of the building are cold, but residents make do. Despite the lack of proper heating and cooling, despite no disability access, residents make do. We can do so much better for public housing tenants like William. The public housing renewal program is an opportunity to do better. But there is a vocal minority with a political agenda rather than a genuine regard for public housing tenants or the wider community. They peddle misinformation and irresponsibly prey on the vulnerability of tenants. Minister, for the sake of clarity, can you outline the key components of the renewal at Walker Street and the risks to the success of the program?
