Public housing applicants will have to get a job if they want a taxpayer-funded home under a tough new test to be introduced in New South Wales.

Growing up in public housing, Ray Hadley says “the overhaul will stop residents who languish on welfare for decades, feeling entitled to a cheap home”.

He says of the thousands on the waitlist, “most of the poor buggers… will never get a house in their lifetime”.

“The reason they won’t get one is because those who go to public housing see it as a God-given right to stay there for their entire lives and then pass it on to their children.

“The cycle is well-entrenched.

“Back in the 60s… it was accessed by aspirational Australians, young married couples like my parents, who wanted to try and get a foothold in the housing market.

“It was not the intention of these people to stay in public housing for the next 50 years.

“There should always be public housing for people… but there are many able-bodied Australians, New South Welshman, living in public housing who won’t get off their backside and have a crack.

“If you can’t work, well, we got to look after you, but if you’re just lazy, if you’re bone-idle, we got to stop looking after you.”

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