Page 548 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 17 February 2016
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(p) the ACT Government has consulted widely, including with refugee settlement services, the Canberra Business Chamber and the Real Estate Institute of the ACT around the sustainable settlement of additional refugees in Canberra;
(q) the Asset Recycling Initiative will see the ACT receive an estimated contribution of $59 million from the Australian Government towards the Capital Metro project; and
(r) housing affordability is a national issue confronting federal, state/territory and local governments across Australia; and
(2) calls on the ACT Government to:
(a) make a formal submission to the recently established Commonwealth Affordable Housing Working Group, giving consideration to:
(i) the ACT’s social housing portfolio in comparison to other jurisdictions;
(ii) the performance of the ACT’s social housing sector in comparison to other jurisdictions;
(iii) factors affecting housing affordability in the ACT;
(iv) the ACT Government’s actions to improve housing affordability in the ACT; and
(v) policy options at federal and state/territory levels which address housing affordability; and
(b) table this submission in the Assembly by the last sitting day in May 2016.”.
I am very happy to have this conversation about housing in the ACT and to talk about the vital services that local workers provide each and every day. My concern with the motion as it stands is that, again, the opposition wants to talk this great work down. My amendment therefore puts some balance back into the motion, because the story of housing in Canberra and its value today is something that we should be celebrating and, of course, building on. That is what our government is doing: the largest renewal of public housing in the territory’s history, with around 11 per cent of our stock; the highest rate of funding for homelessness services in Australia; and the largest portfolio of social housing in Australia: almost twice the national average.
I am concerned, though, that these commitments do not seem to be shared with the opposition—although I acknowledge some of the positive comments that Ms Lawder has made today in her speech to her motion—though I would welcome some more bipartisanship to offer certainty to those delivering important local services here in the ACT.
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