Page 1860 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 22 August 2007
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It is a sign of the strength of the ACT economy. On each of the recent indicators that I have seen, the ACT is performing as well as every place in Australia, except Western Australia and Queensland—the big resource-booming jurisdictions. In the area of growth, in the last quarter’s figures I saw the ACT was second only to Western Australia in economic growth. The growth that we observed recently in the housing market is significant and high, the highest in Australia. There is catch-up and there is significant growth in the market, driven as much as anything by a booming economy, an economy driven by significant commonwealth expenditure as well as a significant expansion in the private sector.
The trend level for building approvals is improving. I believe that housing finance approvals in the last year were the second strongest for the decade. That is an indication of the extent to which there is a second boom in housing. The previous boom was in 2003-04—somewhere roundabout there—and in this last year we came within 20 or 30 housing finance approvals. So there is enormous pent-up demand as a result of employment decisions at one level taken by the commonwealth but also as a result of significant growth and strength within the ACT economy.
We continue to have the lowest unemployment rate in Australia, we continue to have the highest participation rate in Australia, we continue to have the second and third strongest economic growth in Australia, and we have a major, massive employer within the territory employing just under 30 per cent of all people employed in the commonwealth and it is expanding its organisation.
Median house prices and median rents within the territory are high. So, of course, are median incomes and average household disposable incomes. In the context of the affordability indicator or index utilised by the Real Estate Institute of Australia, rents and houses in Australia, on the real estate institute’s index, are the lowest in Australia. An average employee within the ACT earns just on $200 more than the Australian average, just over $800 a month and just under $2,000 a month for an average two-person household, which leads, of course, to a significant difference in household disposable incomes among Canberran households. It is a sign of our prosperity; it is a sign of the strength of this economy, a strength in which I take significant pride and for which my government is happy to accept some responsibility.
This economy is driving as strongly as it is, unheralded, stronger than it has ever been in our history, as a result of which disposable incomes within the territory exceed the national average for each individual by nearly $200. As a result of that the economy is strong. An instance of that is the enormous demand for housing at this stage. Of course, rents and mortgages are high but, as I said, so are incomes, so is disposable income, and so is the capacity of the majority of Canberrans to meet their rental and mortgage commitments at a level that is greater than that for the average Australian.
It should never be forgotten that many Canberrans, along with many Australians, are under significant stress, whether it be in the purchase of a home or in rental accommodation. That is why this government has delivered and is in the process of implementing the most far-sighted and comprehensive housing affordability package anywhere in Australia—a package which, through its implementation, will deal to the extent that any government can with issues around affordability and the cost of rental housing.
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