Page 3682 - Week 12 - Thursday, 25 November 2021
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In recent years there has been a tragic downturn in government policy on housing. This government has decided that, quite simply, it is not appropriate to raise kids in a house with a backyard. It does not matter which way Mr Gentleman wants to spin it, that is the outcome; rather, they want you to raise your family in medium or high-density apartment complexes, in cramped spaces, with limited freedom to move, exercise or play with the dog. What about the trampoline? No, it is not going to join you in that particular residence.
I am not saying that 100 per cent of families want a standalone house. That has never been what we have said. A few years back, the government ran an independent survey, which I am sure we will hear referred to again and again in this place, and around 90 per cent of respondents expressed a preference for standalone housing. Of course, the government did not warm to those metrics and commissioned other studies which concluded that Canberrans wanted more housing choices, based on higher density levels.
These survey results were the most convenient outcome for the government, and they are the ones that the government is running with. In effect, the evidence acquired by the government gave them a rationale or, more likely, an excuse for reducing suburban expansion and expanding urban infill. This produced the current strategy whereby 70 per cent of new housing will be provided within the existing urban footprint. This must be a bit of a conundrum for the Greens—I know Ms Clay touched on this a little—in that, effectively, to some extent they have signed up to creating some concrete jungles in our urban open spaces, apparently in the interests of stemming urban sprawl and helping the environment.
This government’s urban infill policy has some far-reaching consequences. Its implementation involves the strangulation of land releases in greenfield sites to forcibly channel demand back into the urban boundary. The consequences for first home buyers are quite horrific, with standalone housing commonly priced at well over $1 million. In effect, we are seeing that most of an entire generation of first home buyers will have been denied the choice of a standalone house to raise a family and, in many cases, denied the choice of owning any dwelling at all. This government says, and continues to say, that we have plenty of housing choices, so long as that choice is a unit in a high-density development.
Of course, the minister would say that our absurdly high house prices are a product of things way outside the government’s control. I would point the minister to a number of things. Firstly, this is the only government anywhere in Australia that has complete control of land release. You own the land, you decide when to release it and you decide on the price. Secondly, this is the only government anywhere in the country that does not have to deal with individual council planning laws, because there are no councils. Thirdly, although there is a housing crisis of sorts playing out in a number of jurisdictions in Australia, the effects are far worse here than just about anywhere else in the country.
I would point members to the CoreLogic data released this week that shows very clearly that the gap between wage growth and house price growth in the ACT is
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