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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 10 Hansard (Wednesday, 25 August 2004) . . Page.. 4111 ..

that they could become land developers—the economic models were very revealing—in all fairness to the minister, he said that they were conservative models; and they were.

One of the really important things that have always stuck with me about that briefing was that the model was predicated on the average block of land in the ACT selling for $83,000. I challenge anyone in this place or anyone in the ACT to go and find for themselves a block of land that has been developed since this government came to power that you could buy for $83,000. There are none. In fact, if you look at Dunlop—notionally first home buyers land, brought forward and balloted by this government—the entry price was $142,000. If you go to Wells Station, the other area that was balloted late last year by the government, the entry price was, from memory, $170,000. In the first foray of this government into balloting, the average land price was in excess of $90,000; so their model had fallen over within six months of coming into existence.

Since then we have seen radical rises in the price of land so that the land in the ACT is now roughly 100 per cent dearer than this government itself modelled. Even at the most generous end, a $12,000 exemption on stamp duty pales into insignificance when we see a 100 per cent increase in the price of land—a 100 per cent increase in the price of land that has been engineered by this government.

Mr Corbell: You always make that claim, but you can’t prove it. ###

MRS DUNNE: All you have to do is look at the figures; the figures speak for themselves. Of course, the minister is always very tender on this subject but, when you look at it, the price of land for the first development of the LDA was $90,000 roughly; by December last year, it was varying from $148,000 entry level to $178,000 entry level. That is not affordable land; that is not the sort of land that the average mechanic and his wife and his two kids can afford to buy into. They cannot afford to build a house on it. If they do build a house, they are going to end up with a house which is so modest that they are actually not going to be able to experience the capital gain that other people might.

We should actually be saying that there have been a few recent measures that are band-aid measures, tinker at the edges measures, do the bare minimum measures. They do not address the fact that there is almost a generation of young people who will not be able to enter the housing market in the ACT. They and their families will suffer, not just today, not just next year, but for the rest of their lives.

MS DUNDAS (10.51): I thank Mr Hargreaves for providing members with an opportunity to discuss this very important issue of Canberra’s housing market. Many people consistently raise the affordability of home purchasing as one of the most important issues that the ACT government deals with. Home ownership is an important protection against poverty in old age, and stable housing is a key factor in maintaining happiness and good health.

The 2001 census figures showed that home ownership dropped from 69 per cent in 1988 to 67 per cent in 2001, and this was mainly due to the fact that younger people could no longer afford to enter the housing market. The total wealth of people in the 25-34 age group dropped by 39 per cent between 1993 and 2002. So while home purchase costs have been soaring, so have both rents and HECS repayments, just two of the things making it extremely difficult for young people to save up for a house deposit.

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