Page 1489 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 17 April 1991
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was an ambiguity in the Minister's proposal as set out in his speech which does worry me quite a bit, and also the Labor Opposition. My major concern is that the Minister's proposal may end up being nothing but a veiled attempt to flog off public housing in the inner city areas of Canberra - areas like Yarralumla, Red Hill, O'Connor, Turner, Ainslie, Manuka and others.
Mr Collaery: You should be above that, Ellnor. Shame on you.
MRS GRASSBY: You will get a chance, Mr Collaery, to tell us that you are not going to do that. That is what we need to have from you.
Mr Collaery: I have already said it.
MRS GRASSBY: No, we have not heard it as yet. I refer to those areas which will yield large sums when sold because of their higher than average values.
Mr Jensen: Like the ones you sold.
MRS GRASSBY: Mr Speaker, do you think that you could get - I am sorry, I was about to call him Daffy Duck; I must not do that - Mr Jensen to listen to what I have said about selling off two houses? Maybe if he had a brain it would be lonely.
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mrs Grassby, please!
MRS GRASSBY: But maybe he would understand it a bit better. The Housing Trust has hundreds of properties in those suburbs I have just mentioned. Therefore, I do start to worry when the Minister suggests, "An objective is to keep area holdings of public stock constant unless, of course" - and this I wish to make a point of - "these are high". Again, inner Canberra is a high stock area. So what this may potentially allow is for the Minister and his conservative colleagues to flog off high value property in inner Canberra and then spot purchase in outlying areas of Canberra with their relatively low land and house values.
My suspicions were further fuelled when the Minister then said in his speech:
Properties will be introduced as replacements and into low stock areas through the spot purchase program.
So it may potentially be, "Goodbye Yarralumla and hello Theodore", and, "Goodbye Turner and hello Charnwood". We have nothing against Theodore and Charnwood.
Mr Humphries: Oh, yes. Where do you live?
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