Page 3784 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 8 November 1994
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I assume that the public relations unit is still about with that name - PR - and I ask the Minister: Is it possible that publicists publishing and advertisers advertising the Government's remarkable performance in health is somehow more attractive four months before an election than doctors doctoring and nurses nursing?
MR CONNOLLY: No; absolutely not. If members wanted an outrageous example of taxpayers' money used in a blatantly political manner to make political points, I would refer them to the Health Week that Ron Phillips was running in New South Wales recently, which extended to full-page newspaper ads extolling the virtues of Ron Phillips and the New South Wales Liberal Government; to, I believe, television spots extolling the virtues of Ron Phillips and the New South Wales Liberal Government in their handling of the health portfolio; and to various other massively expensive material - all of which focuses on the wonderful virtues of Ron Phillips and the New South Wales Liberal Government. When you see that sort of stuff coming out involving me, you can ask your silly question. You will not.
Residential Land - Releases
MRS GRASSBY: My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning. Why is the Government currently slowing down the release of residential land in the ACT?
MR WOOD: Madam Speaker, the answer is quite simple. The Government is responding to growth factors in the ACT. When I made that announcement last week, it was seized on here and there by anybody who wanted to make a fairly irrelevant political point. The fact is that the land program is a five-year rolling program. It is not something that is locked into place; it is not something that is rigid and cannot be changed. The fact is that it is changed from time to time; it is adjusted, when necessary, to reflect changes in market conditions. Contrary to some comment, I would point out that changes are not unusual. As recently as 1993-94, there was a reduction from 1,410 blocks to something like 650 blocks that were to be released. Early this year, we deferred for a time a government land auction. It is a fairly routine operation. If I checked the documents that we put out, there probably is a point down the bottom that says, "This program is subject to change".
Madam Speaker, I should point out that the ACT residential market is returning to a period of steady growth after a period of heightened activity. Commencements were running at a rate of 900 to 1,000 a quarter - close to 4,000 a year - in the years 1992 and 1993. The Indicative Planning Council, which advises me on the rate of land release that is desirable, now expects that there will be 3,200 sites required in 1994-95 and 3,000 in the year 1995-96. While we have those predictions, we monitor very carefully the rate of growth. It is significant to note that the rate of growth in Canberra is declining from a figure that was consistently, I believe, above 2 per cent to a rate that now is getting closer to one per cent. We will continue to monitor this factor carefully, to see that we match, as closely as possible, the supply of land to the demand.
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