Page 2488 - Week 08 - Thursday, 30 August 2007
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expectation is high that he will make up for Mr Corbell’s mistakes, but there are problems to be addressed. The report goes on to say:
The Australian Capital Territory Government’s Affordability Strategy is also well intended but its target of 15 per cent of homes in new estates being priced between $200,000 - $300,000 may in the end be subsidised by other houses in the development as these prices will be difficult to achieve without reductions to raw englobo land prices, let alone allowable lot and house sizes.
Here is the well-respected institute looking at what the government is saying, and saying that from 2002 through to 2006, it got it wrong. The planning process was too complicated, too hard, too time consuming, and it got it wrong by being a monopoly land supplier. I notice since Mr Corbell’s demise as planning minister Mr Barr has been able to make some progress with it. We are looking, we have high expectations, but we will see. The report goes on to deal with the challenges for the territory:
Improving land supply and assessment processes and permitting changes to the mix and size of products that can be offered are all part of the steps that need to be taken.
I will get back to where I started. It is interesting that the minister did say that he had been with Kevin Rudd, he had been at the affordability housing summit. We need to go back to what Mr Barr said last year in his speech. He said:
The major factor contributing to the decline of housing affordability in Canberra has been the increase in land prices.
Mr Mulcahy: Do people in Gungahlin know that, Mr Smyth?
MR SMYTH: I think people in Gungahlin need to know about this. One can only remember the immortal words of the former Treasurer: squeeze them till they bleed. So here again we have from Mr Barr confirmation that the squeeze them till they bleed policy of Stanhope and Quinlan is wrong. Mr Barr continued:
In the face of these substantial increases, the market has shifted towards smaller block sizes for detached housing and increased housing densities through multiunit development. But despite these changes, the share of land cost in new house prices has increased significantly.
We agree, Mr Barr. You are right. They squeezed them till they bled, and they have caused what the UDIA calls an affordability crisis, certainly in west Canberra, and serious constraints on affordability in central and north Canberra. Mr Barr went on to say, “I believe the solutions to these problems”—and I want him to rule out that he put these solutions to Mr Rudd—“must come from the supply side.” We are quite happy on this side of the house to talk about supply-side solutions, and I warmly welcome the recent increase in land supplies delivered by my colleague Simon Corbell. The minister went on to say:
I believe that the exemptions for home owners from capital gains and land taxes need to be looked at because they too are damaging affordability. I think it is fair to say that the price of a house in Canberra these days is a reflection of its tax-free haven status—
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