Page 5495 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 November 2010
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Mr Seselja also raised issues in relation to the increase in the private rental market and rents in the ACT. Over the period December 2001 to September 2010, rents increased by 53.4 per cent in Canberra, lower than in Brisbane, Darwin and Perth. It is worth noting that the ACT government, again, does not have control over the private rental market. It is, of course, determined by the private market. But in relation to issues around relativities and comparisons—looking at what is happening in the ACT as compared with others—the increase in rents in the ACT is lower than in three of the other capital cities around Australia.
Again, it has to be repeated and reiterated that, according to the Real Estate Institute of Australia’s housing affordability report, the ACT is the most affordable jurisdiction in which to rent a home, with the proportion of family income required to meet repayments in the ACT being 16.5 per cent, significantly lower than the national average of 25.1 per cent. In any intelligent, reasonable conversation around these issues, you must provide a comparative analysis—what is happening here; what is happening elsewhere—and then look at the difference and make your judgements.
The Real Estate Institute of Australia’s market facts report stated that in the June quarter 2010 Darwin reported the largest growth in median house rents, up 14.7 per cent. Median weekly house rents for Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth remained unchanged, while they declined in Hobart and Brisbane.
In relation to public transport, again an issue that is highlighted in the motion, some comparative analysis once again is required. What are the costs here? What is the base from which any increase in the ACT should be measured? The cost of travel on the ACT’s buses—in other words, the cost of public transport in Canberra—has, of course, increased in recent years, as it has everywhere throughout Australia. However, the ACT’s public bus system is still very competitive when compared with the cost of similar travel on buses for distances longer than 10 kilometres in other cities.
Analysis conducted in relation to the cost of public transport in May 2010 compared the costs of trips in Canberra with those in other major capital cities. Similar trips in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth cost $6.70, $5.80 and $4.50, against a cost of $3.80 here in the ACT. The ACT has, in fact, recorded the lowest increase in public transport costs since March 2002 to now. Public transport costs in Canberra increased 19.5 per cent against a national increase of 33 per cent. There you have it again. In relation to public transport and the cost of public transport in the ACT, the increase in costs over the period in the ACT was the lowest in Australia at 19 per cent, compared to a national average of 33 per cent. We have maintained those prices and that level of cost increase in an environment where there has been a massive increase in investment in public transport in the ACT in recent years—some hundreds of millions of dollars.
In relation to house prices, the median price of established house transfers in Canberra increased from $245,000 to $555,000, or by 124 per cent, over the period March 2002 to March 2010, much lower than the national average of 138 per cent. There you have it again. Put the figure out there in isolation and certainly it is a very challenging number. But compare it with the average across Australia. The national average
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