Page 107 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 8 February 2022
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the maintenance of their public accommodation. They are also rejecting the thousands who are being squeezed out of the private rental market and have nowhere to go. If they reject this motion, they are rejecting the vulnerable Canberrans who they are supposed to represent.
It is all well and good for members to march in here and spout ideological mantras. It is all well and good for people to come into this chamber and throw grenades at the Prime Minister, but if members do not have the heart to genuinely improve the lives of people who cannot put a roof over their heads and who are in genuine rental stress, then I think those ideological words are very cheap. What a bizarre scenario it is that the vulnerable people in this space have only one genuine voice in this place, and it is coming from the so-called conservative party. Thank you.
MS BERRY (Ginninderra—Deputy Chief Minister, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Education and Youth Affairs, Minister for Housing and Suburban Development, Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Sport and Recreation and Minister for Women) (4.31): I move the following amendment to the motion:
Omit all text after “notes”, substitute:
“(a) there is a housing affordability crisis unfolding across the OECD, including in Australia. The ACT is not immune from this;
(b) higher-than-average incomes can hide the challenges lower-income families can face in the private rental market;
(c) the strong ACT Government commitment to public housing and continued investment in the growth and renewal of public housing with $100 million committed in the 2021-2022 ACT Budget;
(d) while Report on Government Services data shows stock numbers fluctuate year on year, growth and renewal of public housing is not achieved in a linear process as tenants move out, homes are renewed and built, construction completed and new tenants move in;
(e) to improve dwelling condition so tenants have safe and secure homes to live in, the ACT Government committed $80 million in the 2021-2022 Budget to boost public housing maintenance; and
(f) to assist clients of homelessness services with a need for accommodation, the ACT Government has committed to increase specialist homelessness services with over $10 million invested over the last two budgets; and
(2) calls on the ACT Government to:
(a) continue to implement and review the implementation of the ACT Housing Strategy;
(b) deliver all housing commitments in the Parliamentary and Governing Agreement which includes 400 additional public houses and 600 affordable rental dwellings; and
(c) implement actions under the Housing Strategy to support Community Housing Providers to support the delivery of affordable housing.”.
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