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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 4 Hansard (3 April) . . Page.. 1370 ..
MRS BURKE (continuing):
There is a shadow over this, however, in that I am of the understanding that the government are possibly saying they will not be formally responding. I think there may have been some moves today to address that and I certainly hope that there will be a change of heart after this debate. I would find it both arrogant and amazing if the government were to take this line, given that the minister, to use his own words, was "highly impressed with the level of effort, detail and independent research that the task force has provided as part of this report to inform both the Assembly and the broader community".
The minister also said that he acknowledged "the substantial efforts of the consultants and organisations that contributed to the task force's deliberations"and "they worked exceptionally long hours to address the fundamental issue". So I trust that the Minister will be paying people the courtesy of responding in an as timely as possible manner to all their hard work and effort, and advising this Assembly of the government's position in relation to the 45 recommendations in the report.
According to a statement made in the ACT Shelter submission to the task force, ABS statistics in the late 1990s showed that mean weekly housing costs in the ACT were 23.7 per cent higher than in other capital cities but, because of Canberra's higher than average mean incomes, affordability was no worse than in other cities. However, since that time -since 1998, for example-median private rental for three-bedroom houses has risen by 26 per cent, whilst median family incomes have risen only by 8.8 per cent, indicating that housing affordability is worsening in the ACT.
In fact, the minister has acknowledged that "a number of issues become immediately apparent". I would obviously like to know, and I will be pleased to hear, the government's response and actions that will flow out of these "immediately apparent"issues that have come to light through this good report.
The report was forwarded by Christine Purdon, the chair of the ACT Affordable Housing Task Force. She opens the report by saying:
Shelter is a basic human right and housing is central to all our lives.
She goes on to say:
The task force has found that the problem of housing stress will not be solved in the short term. A long term commitment is required. Leadership and a sustained effort by Government, together with involvement by the private and community sectors and support from the wider community are essential. Within Government, involvement by ACT Housing and the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services is crucial, but other agencies need to be actively involved in addressing housing unaffordability.
I think we are all aware that it will take a long-term commitment and that the problem will not be resolved overnight.
It is worthy of mention that, as I have already said, there are 46 recommendations covering a whole spectrum of areas, including:
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