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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 10 Hansard (Wednesday, 25 August 2004) . . Page.. 4109 ..

circumstances that may allow them to do it. If they do not avail themselves of home ownership in that narrow band of time, they may never do it.

What we face, unless we address the issue of housing affordability, is something that affects people not for one or two years but for the whole of their adult life. It will also affect, to some extent, their children, because they will grow up in a different sort of household—not a less caring or a less loving household, but one that might be, as things go on, more and more strapped.

We all know how difficult it is to get together the deposit and to struggle through those first few years of home ownership and meet the payments. But as your equity in your property increases and your income increases as you get older—as is usually the case with people—those things become less onerous and you are, as Mr Hargreaves said, building up your personal wealth, not only for your own benefit but for the benefit of your dependants.

It is interesting to see an apparent change in the attitude of the Labor Party here. We are often reminded of the famous words—some say “famous”—of one Labor member, whose name currently slips my mind, who constantly complained about the Liberal Party’s approach to home ownership, saying that every time we created a new home owner we created another little capitalist. There was a time when home ownership was anathema to the Labor Party, and I am glad that that time has passed.

But I think that it is a bit rich really for Mr Hargreaves to stand here today and go through the process, in a pretty low-key way—I am glad that it is low key because, really, he should be a bit abashed about it. We are coming to the end of the electoral cycle and we have to stand up here and puff ourselves up and tell people what a good job we are doing or at least try to convince ourselves that we have done something. Let’s just have a look at this government’s record. When they came into government, they came in here with a great plan. The great plan was a housing affordability taskforce.

Mr Hargreaves: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: Mrs Dunne is actually pre-empting notice No 3 on the notice paper, a motion by Mr Smyth that says that this Assembly condemns the Labor government for its failure and mentions housing policy. So I think you should ask her to desist.

MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

Mr Hargreaves: I’ll hear it later when you people dribble away. When you let your mouths off the leash, I’ll hear it later.

MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Hargreaves! Most people, save for a couple on your own side, sat silently while you were speaking.

MRS DUNNE: It was a good try, Mr Speaker, and you have to give him E for effort. But we were concerned about all aspects of housing affordability—not just the entry of first home buyers, but also all those issues that impact on housing stress. First home buyers, as Mr Hargreaves has rightly said, cannot enter the home ownership market; they are still suffering from housing stress because in a rising market they are still paying rents that are generally beyond their ability to pay.

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