Page 4243 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 16 November 2005
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the community, a holistic approach to policy making must be pursued that also encourages people to make the right decisions when adopting the most suitable, flexible and socially responsible housing option to meet their needs.
As a whole, government can be a leader in developing and nurturing a community that fosters unity rather than perceived stigmas against any sector of society. Government is in the position to lead through partnerships in the revitalisation of some residential sites currently utilised by multiunit complexes, for example, in the inner city. The government has committed to deliver on its obligations to improve social and economic reforms and it can achieve that through combining some urban regeneration with community building.
In regard to the commitment to controlling urban development and the impact it has upon the environment, the planning minister indicated through the launch of the Canberra spatial plan that through projected urban growth and providing a more accessible Canberra it will be achieved by increasing the number of homes within 7.5 kilometres of the city centre in key locations over the next 15 years, that locating extra homes within this area will ensure that residents are close to major employment areas and existing services and facilities, such as schools and the like, and that putting homes along key routes and at key locations, such as town centres, rather than spread around the suburbs will also help to retain the character and amenity of neighbourhoods.
I urge members to support this motion today and its genuine intention of providing a sensible approach to affordable housing options, displayed in the partnerships forged between the private and public sectors. If the government is so committed to the key principles of the Canberra spatial plan, the commonwealth state-housing agreement and, I would go one step further, community and social inclusion, it must also place a priority on rejuvenating the government-owned residential asset base and amend its policies that impact so severely upon and in no way alleviate the pressure on the ACT public housing waiting list.
I commend this motion to the Assembly today. I welcome other members’ input to the debate. Remember that whilst ever we talk about it and keep it out in the public arena we will get that feedback that Mr Hargreaves and I and others in this place look for. I would say at this stage, as I have said before, that I think we already have a lot of the answers that we need. I note that Mr Hargreaves is continuing to talk about a housing summit in 2006. I would put it to the minister that I do believe that that is a little long to be waiting for some of the solutions that we could perhaps come up with now. I will continue to urge him to push his Treasurer to look at capital injection into the system, given that he has said time and again that the properties that we have are ageing and perhaps older than those in any other state and territory in Australia.
I wish him well with that one. I do not necessarily advocate that there be more properties. What I do say to this minister is: do not be a minister of delay, do not sit on your hands, and certainly do not think that just by throwing money at the problem it will go away. This whole issue needs better management. A total revamp is needed. We need to look again at how we are still left with the legacies of the 1960s in regard to public housing and move on like other states.
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