Page 1764 - Week 06 - Thursday, 30 July 2020
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The community housing sector needs to be able to grow at the same rate, or preferably faster than, as the overall housing market. To allow that to happen the sector needs an injection of equity and a business model that allows growth over time. That is why the commitment includes a land supply pipeline of low-cost development land sold at book value and the provision of community housing stock. Given Mr Coe’s comments about the ACT government’s profit margin with the land it sells, I am really hopeful that the Liberal Party may take this one up as an election initiative, which we offer to you.
Opposition members interjecting—
MS LE COUTEUR: I am glad to hear the positive responses to my right.
There should also be planning initiatives to encourage the development of affordable rental housing, stock transfers of properties currently managed by community housing providers on behalf of the ACT government and debt forgiveness by the ACT government to the community housing providers. The Greens estimate that this will deliver over 600 new affordable rentals for people in housing need.
The commitment also includes action on making rough sleeping history, starting with an immediate 20 per cent funding boost to all existing specialist homelessness services. Common Ground in Gungahlin would also be expanded, which would provide another 20 apartments for people who have experienced chronic homelessness.
In conclusion, the Greens, I am afraid, cannot support Mr Coe’s motion unamended because it wrongly blames the ACT government for the housing affordability crisis, which unfortunately is a national crisis. If Mr Coe wants to resolve this problem, he needs to address the real issues and he needs, as I said, to have a conversation with his federal colleagues. Mr Coe needs to do that first off. The federal Liberal government could get the problem fixed with taxation changes like winding back the capital gains tax discount, permanent social security benefit increases and proper funding for social and community rental housing. As well as this, he could release a well-thought through housing affordability commitment for the ACT election that is similar to the one that the ACT Greens have released. If it just looks at land release and planning rules, it will be close to useless. If it focuses on increasing the supply of public and community affordable rental housing, then it will be a step in the right direction.
MR PARTON (Brindabella) (3.42): I shake my head in wonder every time Labor and the Greens members, including the Chief Minister and Ms Le Couteur, come into this place and stand here with a straight face supporting their record on housing affordability and rental affordability. If you think that you have done a good job in this space, you are in the wrong job, seriously. How could anyone possibly believe that the current state of play is acceptable? Ms Le Couteur says that it is a national problem. We could ask Mrs Smith, who was featured in an ABC TV report recently, who found that it was a national problem until you crossed the border into Googong; then it was not. There are some national problems, but they have been greatly exacerbated by long-term policies implemented by this government.
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