Page 2889 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 24 June 2009
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There is no single answer to housing nor even to homeownership. The land rent scheme is just one component of an effective, wide-ranging affordable housing strategy. The Greens will be supporting Ms Burch’s motion because it is important to have policies that help households on modest incomes and people who have been locked out of the housing market.
However, the constant debating about such matters in recent months I have to say probably does little to instil confidence in the community. Basically, let us just get on with affordable housing policies and schemes such as land rent and give them a chance to work.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Planning and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation) (4.44): I thank Ms Burch for raising this matter today. It is an important area of public policy and one in which there is a clear contest of ideas. It is in that context, around that contest of ideas, that the government engaged in a major reform of the planning system, most particularly over the last few years, making the system simpler, faster and more effective.
This has been about a number of key things. It has been about supporting building jobs in the ACT through the global financial crisis. It is about making it easier for mums and dads out there in the suburbs to deal with our planning system. But it has also been about making housing more affordable and it is about the dream of homeownership.
As everyone in this place knows, anything that makes a complex development approval process simpler and faster makes the end product cheaper. The fees, assessment time frames, holding costs and building times are all costs that developers and builders face. But they are costs that are not ultimately borne by the construction industry; they are all passed on to those buying houses, in the form of a higher purchase price. Therefore, any efficiencies in the planning process inevitably end up as savings to those entering the housing market.
The government flagged its intention to aggressively address housing affordability in 2007 and across a range of portfolios has worked tirelessly since then to deliver on that. From the moment I became planning minister, I made it clear to the community and to the planning authority that affordable housing was my first priority. I quote from the 2007 statement of planning intent that I gave to the Planning and Land Authority:
Canberrans need to have access to safe, secure and affordable accommodation. This government believes safe, secure and affordable housing is one of the most basic of human needs, and the dream of owning a home is one shared by most Canberrans.
Over the next few years the government aims to build on Canberra’s unique heritage while ensuring this dream is kept alive.
It is our view that simpler, faster and more effective planning systems deliver better and cheaper housing.
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