The Opposition has uncovered yet another spacious, family home acquired for the North-South Corridor which has been left vacant almost four months in the middle of a housing crisis.
The million-dollar plus, four-bedroom, two-bathroom home at Glandore has cast huge doubt on Labor’s claims that properties acquired for the project are already “being made available for rent”.
Data shows the property was transferred to government hands in February just days before caretaker mode ahead of the March election.
The Opposition has been informed the property has been vacant since February, meaning Labor has failed to rent out the home for three months and 26 days despite there being thousands of South Australians in desperate need of a place to live.
Shadow Minister for Social and Community Housing Michelle Lensink said the Minister for Housing needs to explain why this property has been hidden and left to gather dust.
“Nat Cook should be ashamed of herself for allowing this huge home to sit empty for almost four months while South Australians are freezing in tents or jampacked into tiny motel rooms with no hope,” she said.
”Those people would be desperate to look at this property and dream of having something like it to call home, but then also wonder why Nat Cook - the Minister in charge of helping them - is keeping it hidden during a housing crisis.
“This house has been ready to rent for months, so how many more homes are out there empty and gathering dust when people are crying out for a safe place to lay their heads?”
Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Vincent Tarzia, said Nat Cook needs to be transparent about what properties are available.
“Nat Cook claimed last week to have “found” a site to support vulnerable South Australians into longer term accommodation but refused to reveal the details,” he said.
“Now we find out this property could have been rented out for months. Nat Cook needs to come clean about the details of her plan. She found time to do media last week but couldn’t find time to attend a National Housing Ministers meeting into the housing crisis days later.
“Nat Cook’s priorities are backwards and it’s a huge concern.”
