Public housing list blows out to 20,331, as 500-bed Bullsbrook facility remains empty

The number of West Australians on the government housing list has blown out to more than 20,000, the highest since Labor was elected in 2017, prompting calls for the empty Bullsbrook quarantine facility to be used to house the State’s most vulnerable. Figures obtained by The Sunday Times show the Statewide public housing waitlist now stands at 20,331. Alarmingly, the average wait time for a government house is now 150 weeks, or nearly three years, compared to 136 weeks last year. Despite this, the 500-bed Bullsbrook quarantine centre remains empty. It was last used during the bushfires of November and December 2023, when the Cook and Albanese governments brokered a deal to temporarily house people who had been affected by the fires. “Places like the Centre for National Resilience in Bullsbrook present an opportunity for dozens of families, with the right support, to get back on track,” Anglicare boss Mark Glasson said. “It is a travesty that near-new accommodation with 500 beds is collecting dust when a growing number of West Australians are homeless and sleeping rough.” The Bullsbrook facility was commissioned by the Morrison Government at the height of COVID-19 to quarantine people with the virus. But by the time it was completed and handed to the WA Government in October 2022, the worst of the pandemic was over and the facility wasn’t needed. Even so, WA taxpayers were slugged $13 million to maintain the empty building and pay for Serco security for a whole year. In October last year, the WA Government handed the facility back to the Commonwealth but can call on the Albanese Government to use the facility if it thinks there is a desperate need — as with the 2023 bushfires. There was talk Defence would take over the building, but this hasn’t happened. “The Australian Government is in discussions with the WA Government regarding use of the centre in Bullsbrook, including to allow for the centre to be stood up for emergency response purposes at short notice,” a Federal Department of Finance spokesperson said this week. On Friday, a State Government spokesperson said it was up to the Albanese Government to determine what the Bullsbrook building was used for. “The Commonwealth Government took control of the Bullsbrook Centre for National Resilience in October 2023,” the spokesperson said. “Any alternative future use is determined by the Commonwealth Government.” WA Liberals housing spokesman Steve Martin urged the Cook Government to consider Bullsbrook as a short-term solution to the housing crisis. “Bullsbrook might not be the answer for long-term accommodation for overseas workers but surely for a short-term solution it will be better than a caravan or the back of a car this Christmas,” Mr Martin said. Housing Minister John Carey said 1669 social homes had been added to WA in the past two financial years. He said WA was not alone when it came to pressures on its public housing waiting lists. “There is continued pressure on housing markets nationally and all States and Territories are experiencing challenges, including through their public housing waiting lists,” Mr Carey said.

Public housing list blows out to 20,331, as 500-bed Bullsbrook facility remains empty

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