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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (23 September) . . Page.. 3155 ..

MS REILLY (continuing):

I am sure that many people would be interested in how you could put up a new nursing home for that price. There was no way that that was being covered. There is no way that the construction of a new home in Belconnen has been covered by the sale of Upper Jindalee. It was basically given away. People wanting nursing home beds found that the nursing home beds that were here in the ACT were sold for rock-bottom prices, with the company not being required to do the work that was supposed to be undertaken by them. Because of the delays with that project and the delay in providing additional beds for younger people with a disability, more people in the ACT were kept out of nursing homes.

Also, more people were kept out of getting access to appropriate and affordable housing. That was one of the issues that were being taken up by this new Liberal Government. Again, all the people have been ignored. The waiting lists for APUs across the Canberra area have continued to grow, even in the six months from June 1996 to January 1997. In one area the waiting time went from 43 months to 49 months. In the next area it went from 48 months to 55 months. In another area it went from 36 months to 45 months. In another area it went from 75 months to 86 months. All of these people wanting to get into affordable aged persons units are waiting for more than four years. I am talking about people who are older, people who are over the age of 60, who wish to settle in housing in which they can feel secure and safe. They have to wait for that length of time.

In some cases these people are in ACT Housing and have felt pressure to move. Some of those will find that they can afford the housing they are in. But a number of people are living in rented accommodation and are in considerable housing stress, waiting while this Government dithers around about deciding whether it will construct any more APUs. I am sure they will tell us about what they are going to do this year, but this is a considerable lag for those people waiting on the lists and for those people living in rented accommodation and wondering how they can afford to live, to eat and to heat their homes. It is too little too late. I know one woman who lived in an unheated garage last year because she could not afford any other accommodation. The Government was going to solve the planning problem and construct more APUs, but it took more money out of the budget for the construction of new housing in the ACT. Also, it has done nothing to resolve the issues around planning in order to ensure that you can build a number of units on any particular site. The APU policy, as it is, is excellent; but when no-one does anything to build more APUs people suffer because they live in considerable discomfort, stress and emotional upset.

A whole range of other issues affect older people living in the ACT. I am sure a number of home owners thought they were safe. They owned their own homes. But they have found, particularly those on low incomes or on fixed incomes - this is a particular issue in the ACT, considering the number of self-funded retirees we have - that they also have been under attack by this Liberal Government in the Territory because the concessions on rates have changed quite radically. They found that their new rates had increased quite considerably and they also found that the concessions have been cut. Now there is a flat rate of $250 for those coming onto this scheme. A number of people who are working

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