Congratulations to the Palaszczuk government on being elected for a third term. This has been a trying year for leaders, one that has given us all a multitude of opportunities to show up and stand up. As the country breathes a sigh of relief with the second COVID-19 wave in Victoria successfully smothered and look across the globe at what could have been our own stories, we have a heightened awareness of our fortune here in Queensland to be able move around with relative health and freedom. We are grateful for the courage and fortitude in Premier Palaszczuk’s leadership during this health, social, and fiscal crisis. We applaud the rapid work early in the pandemic ensuring a funded and targeted response to homelessness was enacted swiftly to ensure those who were sleeping rough, or living in shared crisis accommodation were able to access self-contained accommodation. This is a testament to the combined hearts and hands of the government and non-government sector uniting with a fixed goal.
It is with sincere gratitude we thank Minister de Brenni and the Department of Housing and Public Works (DHPW) for the collaborative work within the youth housing and homelessness space that enabled us to continue working towards our core vision: All young people safely housed. We have built strong, critical relationships with the DHPW as we have traversed a number of shared projects and plans. We look forward to walking alongside Minister Enoch under the newly formed Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy. The coming together of housing and communities will be interesting to watch unfold especially as we are all so potently aware of the intersecting issues. We also welcome Minister Scanlon and the passion we know she shares for youth affairs. We also applaud the Labor Party’s plan to establish a youth homelessness working group as a subcommittee to the Ministerial Housing Council to assist in the development of a Youth Homelessness Policy.
We thank Minister Fentiman for her pledge as the outgoing Minister for Training and Skills Development to provide free TAFE courses for young people under 25 years and look forward to seeing Minister Farmer take on this forward thinking promise as she takes on the Training and Skills Development portfolio. We are also eager to support Minister Fentiman’s work, in particular, her role within the domestic and family violence space.
We also congratulate the Members of Parliament across this state who have retained or gained seats. We look forward to collaboratively supporting the needs of homeless and at-risk young Queenslanders in a way that taps into local knowledge and wisdom to ensure our advocacy processes are truly representative of the diversity of experience across our vast state.
