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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 12 Hansard (20 November) . . Page.. 4404 ..

MRS BURKE (continuing):

Minister, as you well know, the GST was always going to be that one-off GST payment. Now that the GST is coming back to the territory, you will be getting in there to lobby hard. That is right: you are pointing to Mr Quinlan's chair. If he is listening-and I will be rattling his cage, too-we want this money to come back into Housing. That is what it is about here, so I would have to take issue with that statement. Let's not forget that it is index linked for the first time.

I have read this report a number of times, and I find something new each time. That is the nature of this beast. I again thank the minister for the report, and I thank the department for all their hard work. I commend the report to the Assembly.

MS TUCKER (12.19): The Greens welcome this strategy. It has been a notable and noted gap in the management of public housing over many years. I am pleased to see in this strategy an understanding of the asset as not only an amount of money that the market might be prepared to pay for bricks and mortar but also something that provides housing for people who would have difficulty in the private market. This is captured on page 5, in the statement that the government "recognises that the portfolio exists primarily to meet the government's social goals".

However, I am concerned that this understanding has not flowed through to calculations of the asset yield on the stock. The amount of rental rebate is determined largely by market rent, which is not necessarily driven by changes to the value of the place as a place to live. That tension is reflected in the affordable housing crisis we see at the moment. It is a tension that public and community housing is in the best position to deal with. Although it is difficult, the value of public housing should not be read just as monetary rental returns.

You could look at the amount of rental rebate on the positive side of the balance sheet because it represents the amount of money that vulnerable members of our community do not have to pay in rent, which they would have to if they were in the private market. It is a positive because, to a large extent, it is a measure of preventing absolute poverty and ill health caused by not being able to afford to eat well, heat your house or buy reasonable clothing as well as social outings and interactions, which also keep us healthy. There is more to be said about what a reasonable rent is in terms of allowing people enough money, but I won't say that now.

The Greens are pleased to see the commitment to expanding the stock of social housing. This moves beyond the previous idea that public housing could be transferred to community housing. I hope that the government will change its mind on public housing and will move to increase the stock of this valuable asset. It is very concerning that some maintenance and improvement costs have been met, through diminishing the stock, by the funds from selling off stock.

Again, it is acknowledged on page 6 to be a challenge that there is currently insufficient capital to rejuvenate stock and to maintain numbers. That is a serious crisis, and I am hopeful that the government as a whole can recognise the fundamental importance of adequate stock in addressing many of the social issues that the various studies and plans seek to address. This is reflected in numerous studies and reports. In fact, you can link it

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