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The Ministers, we hear, were keen to have endorsed a proposal that a future agreement will be outcome based, with the States and Territories having much greater flexibility about how we will meet the outcomes, and this, of course, will also be good for us. I am pleased to hear that the Minister will be fighting for us to retain our per capita funding for housing and that he will be formulating a strategic plan for housing for the Territory by the end of the year.

What I would like to raise today as a matter of concern is that the Minister gives no indication as to how the strategic plan for housing will be formulated. He said:

The strategy will be developed through consultation mechanisms that allow all those interested in strategic outcomes for housing provision and housing assistance to have their say.

What does this mean? Whom is he going to consult? Who is going to consult with whom? I am very interested in the strategic outcomes. Am I going to be consulted? Who is? Will they all be part of a stable committee? How often will they be talked to? Will there be opportunities for the general public to participate? Will all Assembly members have an opportunity to have their say?

In my opinion, and I suppose in the opinion of most of the people of the ACT, the management of housing and, in particular, the provision of Housing Trust accommodation in the ACT have defined this city for what it is. There are no ghettos, no slums, and equal opportunities are provided for all of us to be close to facilities and services. Anything that may change this requires wide-ranging community debate. If the development of a new strategic plan is to be finalised in seven months’ time, I am very concerned that public debate has not begun. I seek your assurance, Mr Stefaniak, that there will be every opportunity for a wide range of input on this issue.

I note that, in formulating the housing strategy, the Government will review the role that community and public housing can play and that the role of government housing will be examined closely. Mr Stefaniak says that this Government believes that there are a few issues that require attention. Waiting lists, we are told by him, Mr Speaker, must contain people who are genuinely in need of housing and not those who have sought to be put on the list on the basis that they may need some other form of assistance or might be looking for some assistance in the future. Again, Mr Speaker, what I would like to know, and what I think we all need to know, is: What does this mean? Who will decide who is not genuine? How are people going to be questioned? How frequently will they be requizzed? It all seems a bit vague to me.

Next we come to a direction to allow tenants to buy their houses after five years of occupancy. That is a noble sentiment, it seems; but is it not a little early? First, we have a call for a major review of housing policy to be ready in seven months’ time; but, in the meanwhile, we implement a very wide-ranging and definitive decision. How will these sales, if we do go ahead with that, affect the lower priced end of the housing market which is currently depressed? How is the housing cost going to be determined in these depressed markets? Is market value going to be raised on Housing Trust homes because suddenly they are all coming on the market, so that the Housing Trust can get maximum benefit, or are they going to be in line with these now very depressed market prices

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