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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 9 Hansard (28 August) . . Page.. 2670 ..

MR STEFANIAK (Minister for Education and Training and Minister for Housing and Family Services) (11.19): There are a number of things about this motion which are of concern. I am not quite sure from the terms of the motion whether Ms Reilly actually appreciates what the situation is. The start of the motion reads:

Noting that changes to the funding of public housing programs by the Commonwealth Government for the ACT in the 1996-97 and following years will allow the ACT government to sell ...

It will not for the 1996-97 year, because under the terms of the 1996 Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement, and indeed its predecessor, all proceeds from the sale of public housing must be reinvested in the purchase or upgrading of replacement stocks or related activities. Under the current agreement we simply have to reinvest in public housing anything we get from sales. Until the new arrangements are in place, which will be no sooner than the start of the 1997-98 year, this requirement will continue to apply.

Mr Whitecross: That is not what he told us yesterday.

Mrs Carnell: Yes, it is. It is exactly what he said yesterday.

MR STEFANIAK: I think you might be confusing it with what the new agreement will actually do. If you look at what we are actually doing, Mr Whitecross, you will see that the Government is proposing that from the sale of housing we will be able to build more appropriate housing - the 180 to 200 properties I spoke of yesterday.

The Commonwealth and the States and Territories are discussing new arrangements whereby all low-income tenants, including public housing tenants, will receive rent assistance from the Commonwealth Government and will have a greater opportunity to rent with either the public or the private rental sector. These reforms were initiated by the former Federal ALP Government, by Brian Howe. Details of proposed new arrangements are still unclear, with further information to be provided by the Commonwealth in mid-September of this year. The States and Territories will agree to the proposed new arrangements only if the detailed terms and conditions are satisfactory. I think that is something that needs to be appreciated. Under the proposed new arrangements there is no plan to do away with public housing, only to provide greater choices for tenants who may choose to use their subsidies to rent in the private market.

You have to appreciate that there always will be a need for public housing to pick up where the private sector cannot and does not, so there will always be a need for public housing. What the new agreement will provide, though, is greater flexibility. Ms Reilly talked about tenants paying 70 per cent of their income in the private sector. Under the new Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement - and I was very pleased that Jocelyn Newman stressed this on radio the other week - the proposal is that tenants who cannot afford more pay 25 per cent of their income towards their rent. The whole theory behind the new arrangements is that the Commonwealth will basically top up the rest. That does create a lot more flexibility.

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