Page 1192 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 24 June 1992
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has adopted to provide public housing in New South Wales. Under that agreement the AMP Society has contributed something like $146m to acquire a portfolio of a thousand houses which are in turn used to house public tenants in the first instance. These are not necessarily non-rebated tenants; these are all sorts of tenants. The houses acquired are located all over the Sydney metropolitan area - not just on the fringes, not just in Redfern or Marrickville - and they are indistinguishable from other privately owned houses in the areas in which they have been purchased. This differs quite significantly from the old-style public housing estates and has the social advantage of integrating public housing tenants in the community - what Mr Connolly, I think, called integrated, socially-just housing.
Under that arrangement, once the first public tenant vacates the AMP Society has the option of selling the house, or having another public tenant in there, or doing a number of other things. It is a fairly flexible arrangement. The day-to-day management of the house, in the sense of dealings between the tenant and the landlord, if you like, is done by the New South Wales Department of Housing. So, in a sense, that tenant still is effectively, for all day-to-day purposes, a public housing tenant, a tenant of the Department of Housing or the Housing Commission of New South Wales. The advantage to the AMP Society is that they have an investment which is not in the commercial market, which I must say is probably a big advantage in today's world, and it gives them a chance after a period to sell the house when the public tenant goes and to recoup something of the investment. The State Government guarantees a return which is equivalent to a CPI increase for each year that the house is owned.
I would respectfully suggest to the Assembly that this agreement is working. It is clearly working and is providing effective public housing entirely, or almost entirely, through the private sector. It can be done and it needs to be explored outside New South Wales if it is working. Mr Connolly was very quick to tell us yesterday that we have to look at what developments are taking place elsewhere. This is one such development that needs to be carefully addressed. Subsidised housing, welfare housing, is not in itself an aim. What we have to look at is what the ultimate aim of any housing policy should be. I would suggest that that aim has to be providing for the aspirations of people across our community, and I think we can do that in more imaginative ways than we are doing it at present.
MS ELLIS (3.37): The Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement sets the stage for housing assistance throughout Australia, establishing the principles by which all Australians gain equitable access to a range of housing programs. The principles governing the delivery of housing assistance affirm the eligibility of those in need, particularly those people requiring support to live independently within the community. Through the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement we are able to promote uniformity in the level and type of assistance available to people in need - a key issue for the ACT, due to our need to be aligned with services provided in New South Wales. The Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement also provides for housing assistance through a range of programs, including public rental housing and home purchase assistance. There are also a number of special purpose programs targeted for groups with special needs, such as pensioners and young people who have been particularly disadvantaged as a consequence of the economic downturn, and people from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island background.
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