The Liberal MP, who served as housing minister in the Baillieu/Napthine Government, was speaking on a Greens bill to amend the Charter of Human Rights to establish a right to housing; and to amend the Housing Act to set a target of ending homelessness in Victoria by 2030.
In addressing the need for housing to be appropriately located to benefit tenants as well as communities, she argued against placing public housing in wealthy areas such as Brighton.
“There is no point putting a very low-income, probably welfare-dependent family in the best street in Brighton where the children cannot mix with others or go to the school with other children or where they do not have the same ability to have the latest in sneakers and iPhones,” she said.
“We have got to make sure that people can actually fit into a neighbourhood, that they have a good life and that people are not stigmatising them because of their circumstances.”
Fellow Member for Northern Victoria Mark Gepp, who grew up in the Flemington housing commission flats, immediately condemned the comments.
“There is some point of difference, so it is far better that we put them over there and we train them in the way that we want to train them, and when we think they are ready, then we might integrate them,” the Labor MP said.
“Well, bollocks to that, because your position on the socio-economic ladder should never determine your participation in this society under any circumstances. Shame on you for suggesting that it should. Shame on you.”
Ms Lovell interjected that it wasn’t the tone she intended, but the damage was done.
Mr Wynne described it as an appalling example of “postcode snobbery”.
“Matthew Guy should step in and apologise ... Not just on behalf of the Liberal Party, he should apologise to all those who have lived in public housing,” he said.
Ms Lovell used a current proposal to build social housing over a car park as an example of inappropriate development.
“There is a proposal for one in Shepparton at the moment that is getting a lot of pushback from the community because it would be the biggest apartment block in Shepparton, and it is not in a great location for public housing,” she said.
“It is not going to provide good outcomes for the people who are around it, so therefore it will not provide good outcomes for the people who are in it. We need to have a mixed demographic wherever we put social housing so that it provides for better outcomes for communities.”
The reaction to the Brighton comments overshadowed Ms Lovell’s speech about the inadequacy of the government’s Big Housing Build to address the blowout in housing waiting lists.
Speaking after the debate Ms Lovell said the need to solve the housing crisis shouldn’t allow for poorer planned outcomes.
“The policies of the past of the broad-acre estates didn’t produce good outcomes, the policies of today of decentralising and spot purchasing, making sure homes look the same in a street is an inclusive approach — that was what my speech was about,” she said.
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