Page 2570 - Week 08 - Thursday, 14 August 2014
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MS BERRY (Ginninderra) (11.44): I was pleased to see the investments that the budget has made in renewing our public housing stock; I congratulate the former minister, Mr Rattenbury, and the Treasurer and new housing minister, Minister Barr, for their work.
As a government, good things are being done in housing, including the development of Common Ground and the strategic plan for community housing. The ACT has a lot to be proud about in its history of investing in public and community housing across the territory. As a member whose electorate incorporates 25 per cent of the ACT’s public housing, I am a passionate advocate and defender of our salt and pepper policy, our commitment to placing public housing throughout the ACT regardless of the demographics of the suburb. As someone whose guiding value is social justice, I think debates like this give us an opportunity to look to the future, to look to where, over the coming years, ACT governments will have to make investments that continue to make Canberra a city that is fair for all.
I think it is clear to anyone who looks into public housing in the ACT that we will still need to build our stock. It is not the popular thing to say these days—that governments still have an important role to play in the provision of housing and that public housing is not just for the poor. It was clear, when listening to organisations such as ACT Shelter, Kippax UnitingCare and the YWCA, that, whilst we do not know the exact number of houses needed, the simple fact that we can all agree on is that we need to build more houses and we need to begin the process of planning for investments in public housing.
By committing to renewing and improving our public housing stock, I believe that the first small steps in this journey have been made, but there is a long way to go and I will continue to advocate for the importance of public housing investment.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (11.46): I would like to make a few brief remarks about the Housing portfolio, having recently handed it over to Mr Barr. As a Greens MLA, I believe that safe, secure and sustainable housing is fundamental to ensuring that all members of our community have equal access to service and opportunities. I think it is fair to say that we are not there yet.
Public housing holds an important place in the history of Canberra, and is a vital part of our city. Our salt and pepper policy means that public housing is part of the fabric of every Canberra neighbourhood. This means greater social cohesion and it reduces the risk of concentrating and compounding disadvantage. But public housing also presents some fairly complex challenges.
The Minister for Housing and Housing ACT perform an interesting function. It is a mix of being a landlord and being a social service provider. I believe this dual objective is fulfilled incredibly well by Housing ACT and have no doubt that they will continue to build on the work that we have done over the past months and year.
When I first took on the portfolio, I was surprised by the sheer size of our waiting list and the age of our public housing properties. Many of the flats are old, cold and not
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