Page 1850 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 1 May 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
nodding his head over there. Obviously he has been doing a bit of background reading, and I commend him for that. Clear evidence of the development that has been done in relation to the ACT is the more recent land sales in Tuggeranong, where prices for land and land and housing packages are substantially below the major capital cities' prices.
Mr Collaery: She is not here to hear your speech. She is not here, mate.
MR JENSEN: Yes, that is pretty typical. Canberra home prices have recently been described as the most affordable in Australia, through reference to the home loan affordability index of the Real Estate Institute of Australia. Talking about one other organisation that Mrs Grassby was referring to today - suggesting that my colleague the Minister or his officials have not been talking to industry on that - Mr Crowe of the HIA, in fact, has rung and advised the following points: Land is available and affordable at an attractive price and geared to market demand; and pressure is easing in the rental market within the ACT. Those points have been provided to us by the HIA. So, clearly that indicates that the provision and availability of land in the ACT is moving in the right direction.
However, Mr Speaker, it is important not to become complacent about the supply of land and to ensure that we, as a community, are able to provide opportunities for the many first home buyers that our 2 per cent population growth will demand. Members will, no doubt, recall the important initiatives that my colleague the Minister for Housing and Attorney-General, Mr Collaery, announced in the house during the last sittings regarding assistance to this very important group of residents of the ACT. In fact, as a government we inherited the policy of private enterprise land development from the Commonwealth Government. This policy was, of course, maintained by the Labor Party - when in government in the ACT - and the Alliance Government. The timely release of land and the proper management of the leasing packages have ensured that adequate, affordable new land and housing packages are available to the Canberra community.
Mr Speaker, as I have already indicated, referring to another organisation and flowing on from the comments made by the HIA, the most recent survey of the Real Estate Institute of Australia has reported:
... a strong recovery in the ACT first home market that occurred over much of the latter part of last year continues today ... the period July 1990 to February 1991 saw 18% more dwellings financed than for the same period in 1989-90.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .