Page 4125 - Week 12 - Thursday, 1 December 2022
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for rental affordability across eight of 10 low income household groups Overall, Canberra remains the most expensive capital city in Australia to rent in. Minister, why won’t you release more land to help make housing more affordable in Canberra?
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Ms Lee for the question. It is important that we look at these aspects in the future, when we look at our ILRP. The 2022-23 budget delivers a range of important housing initiatives, including the government’s Indicative Land Release Program. That program plays a strategic role in catering for our population growth, building a compact, livable city, attracting investment in the land market and strengthening our economic advantage in the ACT region.
We look at that program to continue to provide a diverse mix of housing types and choices, including dedicating at least 15 per cent of the annual residential land releases for affordable community and public housing dwellings. When we look at those land release opportunities, we look at population growth in the territory and ensure that the land release program at least has enough—
Ms Lee: Point of order, Madam Speaker. The minister is now well past halfway and he still has not answered the actual question, which was: why won’t you release more land?
MADAM SPEAKER: He is in order. He is talking about the land release program. Mr Gentleman.
MR GENTLEMAN: That is right, Madam Speaker. As I was saying, we look at population growth to ensure that we have enough land released to meet population growth and some more. That is why we do all that extra work in the land release program. In this program there are releases to support 4,743 single residential dwellings and 11,674 multi-unit dwellings. That will mean that we have enough land released, well above population growth.
MS LEE: Minister, what do you say to pensioners that are forced to sacrifice up to 70 per cent of their income to afford a place to rent in Canberra?
MR GENTLEMAN: We know that it is difficult to rent in Canberra. The government have policies that we can work with to try and relieve that wherever we can. That is why we are moving across our system to look at rental as a strategic base for housing in the territory into the future. The Build-to-Rent scheme will assist in that case by providing more opportunity for rentals and hopefully will alleviate a little of the pressure for renters at the low end of the rental scheme.
MR PARTON: Minister, what do you say to single parents working part time who are forced to sacrifice up to 69 per cent of their income to afford a place to rent in Canberra?
MR GENTLEMAN: Our housing policies are aimed at looking at, particularly through my directorate and the land release program, ensuring that at least 15 per cent is affordable into the future. We would like to do the best we can to alleviate that housing stress. The government is working on policies to do that.
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