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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 14 Hansard (9 December) . . Page.. 5008 ..

Mr Smyth: Table the list.

Mrs Dunne: Show us the list.

MR CORBELL: Mr Speaker, they are rabbiting on again, but 3,500 more dwelling sites, over 8,000 dwelling sites, are now in the builders and developers' pipeline-a significant improvement on that left by the previous government. The government has that in place. The Liberals should be ashamed of themselves for failing in their capacity to properly plan land release, which they know they have to plan in advance. When we came to office there was no planning capacity to plan the estates needed to get them out onto the market. We have now rectified that, Mr Speaker.

Mrs Dunne: Have you written the L&Ds for these 8,000 blocks?

MR SPEAKER: Mrs Dunne, I warn you.

MR CORBELL: We have now rectified that, Mr Speaker, and we now have over 8,000 dwelling sites in the builders and developers pipeline. It is interesting that Mrs Dunne says, "I don't believe you."I invite her to go and talk to the MBA and ask the MBA whether it thinks that there is enough land in the market, because it will say, "Yes, there is enough land in the market."It probably galls Mrs Dunne that the MBA would say such a thing for a Labor government, but that is the reality. There are now enough dwelling sites in the market.

On top of that, the government will continue through its ballot process and through over-the-counter sales to make a range of blocks available at a range of prices. We think that we will see some equilibrium come back into the market and we will see some sensible prices come back into the market because people are thinking more seriously about their purchases, they are thinking about the consequences of interest rate rises for their mortgages, and that is important in seeing a sustainable housing market into the future.

Education of children with additional needs

MR PRATT: My question is to the minister for education. Minister, I recently received a copy of a letter to you from a constituent whose six-year-old grandson has been having difficulties at school, which may be related to fine motor skills. She has been told he would face a wait of six to eight months for testing before treatment could commence, with the possibility of more tests being required and, presumably, more delays.

Assuming a child of this age were facing difficulties with writing, due to problems with fine motor skills, what would be the likely effect of a six to eight month delay in treatment in educational, psychological and social terms?

MS GALLAGHER: I remember the letter, Mr Pratt. From memory, I am waiting for some advice from the department in responding to that child's grandmother. In relation to your question, I am not a qualified child psychologist or therapist. The question you ask is: what impact will this delay have on the education of that child? I am not qualified to answer that question. I think it is a concern if there is a wait that long. The advice I have sought from the department is to find out exactly what that child's needs are

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