MEMBER for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland has criticised the joint announcement by the federal and state governments of $33 million for 100 new modular homes, describing it as “misleading and poorly planned”.
Ms Cleeland said comments made last Friday by the Minister for Natural Disaster Recovery revealed a concerning reality: 60 modular homes, built following previous disasters, were already sitting unused in storage.
This raises serious and immediate questions about what exactly this $33 million announcement is funding, Ms Cleeland said.
“If 60 homes are already built and sitting idle, then Victorians are effectively being told this funding delivers just 40 additional homes. That equates to roughly $825,000 per caravan — an extraordinary and frankly indefensible figure.”
Ms Cleeland said the situation points to broader failures in planning, coordination, and accountability within the Emergency Management Victoria’s housing program.
“At a time when families, seniors, and young people across regional Victoria are struggling to secure stable housing, it is simply unacceptable that dozens of completed homes are gathering dust in storage,” she said.
“Every day those homes sit unused is another day a Victorian is without a roof over their head.”
But Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes described Ms Cleeland’s claims about modular housing as “fearmongering rubbish”.
Ms Symes said she should focus on spreading helpful information instead of engaging in this “nonsense.”
“We provide the most suitable temporary housing for bushfire-affected residents based on where they’re at in their recovery,” Ms Symes said.
“Along with the Commonwealth (Government), we are supporting Victorians devastated by the fires with more than $420 million to clean up, recover and rebuild — and we’ll always consider what more we can do.”