Thank you, and thank you for being here this afternoon.
Minister Blair has suggested that there is a significant deficit of approximately 7,000 military housing units, and noted that there are not enough resources to construct new units on Crown land; yet, the minister proceeds to let billions of dollars of the defence budget lapse year over year, and makes over $1 billion in cuts.
General Eyre has suggested that housing is one of the top concerns for his troops. We clearly have a retention and recruiting crisis, and the housing chaos certainly doesn't help.
How can people be motivated to join and stay when the quality, affordability and availability of housing is so dismal?