Page 398 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 22 March 2022
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in the audit report, the government’s response, and its implementation of the audit report’s recommendations. The committee expects to report to the Legislative Assembly on the Auditor-General’s report as soon as practicable.
Sitting suspended from 11.52 am to 2.00 pm.
Ministerial arrangements
MR BARR (Kurrajong—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Climate Action, Minister for Economic Development and Minister for Tourism) (2.00): The Attorney-General is absent today due to illness, so Minister Cheyne will assist members with questions in the Attorney-General, consumer affairs and gaming portfolios, and I will endeavour to assist members with questions in the water, energy and emissions reduction area.
Questions without notice
Housing—affordability
MS LEE: My question is to the Minister for Housing and Suburban Development. Minister, the most recent land ballot in Whitlam had 12,417 applicants trying to purchase 101 blocks. Why won’t you release more land for detached housing to meet demand and increase choice?
MS BERRY: As the Leader of the Opposition will know by now, I hope, the ACT government is responsible for around two per cent of the land release in the ACT. Over the last year until December, the private sector, for example, released around 170,000 and the ACT released over 4,000—less than two per cent of the land release active within the market in the ACT. So whilst we play an important role in land management that the ACT government is responsible for, we are not the only ones that provide land for sale, or homes for sale, for purchase across the ACT.
In addition, land is finite and needs to be managed carefully. We need to make sure that land is appropriately developed over a period of time to ensure that the generations after we have left get to enjoy the city that we all enjoy, the bush capital.
On top of that, we know that Canberrans want a mix of housing choice. People want to be able to choose the kind of dwellings that they live in. Some people want to live in homes with large blocks to garden in; some people want to move into apartments where they can enjoy their spare time on the weekends with their family, and where their front door leads out into the community that they can enjoy.
As I said, the ACT government is responsible for two per cent of the land release and housing sales in the ACT, and we have not slowed down. We have not constrained development. We continue, in fact, to provide more than we have in previous years.
MS LEE: Minister, is it a condition of your coalition agreement with the Greens that you will only drip-feed land for detached housing to the market?
MS BERRY: No.
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