Page 955 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 21 April 2021
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I also reject the comments that Mr Hanson made with regard to the housing supply and the type of housing supply. Housing is built to meet the needs of tenants and that includes single room dwellings but also freestanding properties. That is the work that Housing ACT does as part of its housing renewal and growth work in the ACT.
MR HANSON: Minister, what are you doing to give relief to the people who are utilising and requiring detached public housing?
MS BERRY: I am making sure that more detached public housing is being built.
MR PARTON: A supplementary. Minister, what will you do to realign your housing policies with core Labor values?
MS BERRY: I refer Mr Parton to my previous answer that the growth of public housing in the ACT is a core Labor value and something that the ACT government is delivering on and continues delivering on. We continue to maintain the highest public housing per capita in the country and we are renewing to a point in 2025 where we will have renewed 20 per cent of our housing property in the ACT, making it much more sustainable, much easier to maintain and much more affordable to heat and cool for public housing tenants. It will better meet their needs, regardless of where they want to live and the type of housing that they want to live in.
Parks and Conservation Service—bushfire recovery work
MR PETTERSSON: My question is to the Minister for Planning and Land Management: can you please update the Assembly on bushfire recovery in Namadgi National Park?
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Mr Pettersson for his interest in bushfire recovery. The Orroral Valley fire of last year burnt through 88,000 hectares or about 80 per cent of Namadgi National Park. The early challenge was to ensure that sensitive environments were stabilised as quickly possible, and this proved prudent given the heavy rains that followed the fire.
We have asked the Canberra community for patience as we closed the park to the public in order to give the park some time to heal, with the help of human hands. Recovery work was able to progress faster than originally participated thanks to a combination of favourable weather conditions and the hard work of the recovery team, Roads ACT and various volunteer groups from within the community. Our teams have worked hard to make the park safe for the community to get back in the park well ahead of the schedule, with a focus on critical issues with infrastructure and along the public roads into the park as well.
MR PETTERSSON: Minister, what areas of the park have reopened?
MR GENTLEMAN: I point out that the park’s reopening well ahead of schedule could not have been possible without the investment of time and resources from the government. I am pleased to inform Mr Pettersson and the Assembly that most of
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