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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 5 Hansard (3 May) . . Page.. 1471 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

This budget does not look at options for affordable housing either in the public sector or in the private sector. It is certainly not looking in the public sector for more affordable housing. There are no increases in stock-that might be optimistic. It is worse than that: there is a marked decline in housing stock. It is a very sad state of affairs that we are reducing our stock. I hope that we will see some measures in the next period to address this basic problem of affordable housing. I want to impress upon the minister and the government that it is a most significant problem. I know Mr Moore is amenable to all sorts of suggestions, so I will gently and nicely give him a briefing that I do not think he has yet had from ACT Housing.

In this chamber a little while ago he responded to some comments of mine by saying that I was "wrong, wrong, wrong" about housing. I think I was right, right, right. I will table some data here, not sourced from me but sourced from ACT Housing. If I can impress upon Mr Moore that the housing stock is declining, the need to help alleviate poverty by looking at housing might start to get some priority. I will not go back very far. On 30 April, the 1998-

At 5.00 pm, in accordance with standing order 34, the debate was interrupted. The motion for the adjournment of the Assembly having been put and negatived, the debate was resumed.

MR WOOD: I am pleased that Mr Moore wants to hear this briefing. As I was saying, the 1998 ACT housing ownership agreement indicated 12,215 units of housing stock. About a year later, the 1999 ACT housing ownership agreement indicated 11,992 housing units. In January 2000, the 2000 ACT housing ownership agreement indicated a further decline to 11,712 housing units.

Mr Moore: And an increase in community housing at the same time.

MR WOOD: No, this is the stock number. This is where Housing actually claims that we have this many properties.

Mr Moore: But we are doing community housing at the same time. Remember, we change varying properties to community housing.

MR WOOD: I am coming to that. I have not forgotten that-rely on me. This is a very reliable briefing, Michael. On 31 December, the 2001 ACT housing ownership agreement indicated 11,699 housing properties, and the 2001 target that we see in the recently tabled ACT Housing business plan takes us down to 11,399 for the current year. In three years, from 1998 to 2001, we have gone down by 815, from 12,212 to 11,399. The balance is 200 houses to community housing in that time, so take off those 200. If that is not a decline, I do not know what is.

Let us look at the complexes. Condamine Court once had 214 units. Housing figures said there were 70 units provided in the change to that-a drop from 214 to 70. Macpherson Court went from 143 to 15 ACT Housing and 15 community housing units. Lachlan Court went from 119 to zilch. I am not sure about Burnie Court; there used to be 264 there. Initially, ACT Housing and the then minister said 50 older persons units and 74 units for single people-124-which I thought was quite a reasonable target. The other day here, in response to a question of mine, Mr Moore suggested there were

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