Page 877 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 2 April 2008

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mind on most things. It is interesting. But the reality is this: we believe that we deserve a reasonable share of private members’ day. It is unreasonable for the government to deny us that, and that is why we have taken this stand. We think it is unreasonable that this motion has been moved. The MPI is on the daily notice paper, and it should go ahead.

MR HARGREAVES (Brindabella—Minister for the Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Housing and Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (4.06): I concur with the manager of government business, but I think we need to set history straight here. Mr Seselja rises in his chair, with Mr Smyth’s hand up his back—the master puppeteer at strike—trying to say: “Bleat, bleat, bleat, bleat. We need our fair share of it.” I remind the house of the time when the Labor Party was in opposition and there was one Labor, one Liberal and one crossbench piece of private members’ business. What happened when this government was in minority government? There was one Labor, one Liberal, one crossbench. It has always been that way. The reason why it has been that way is because the parliament has been paramount. It has been the parliament, and it has been the various segments of the parliament which will have access to private members’ business. (Time expired.)

Question put:

That Dr Foskey’s motion be agreed to.

The Assembly voted—

Ayes 2

Noes 15

Dr Foskey

Mr Barr

Ms MacDonald

Mr Mulcahy

Mr Berry

Ms Porter

Mrs Burke

Mr Pratt

Mr Corbell

Mr Seselja

Mrs Dunne

Mr Smyth

Ms Gallagher

Mr Stanhope

Mr Gentleman

Mr Stefaniak

Mr Hargreaves

Question so resolved in the negative.

MRS BURKE (Molonglo) (4.11): The decline in housing affordability has been a while in the making, and the sad situation now facing many Australian families and individuals is in large part the story of the failure of governments at a state and territory level over the last 10 years. Housing affordability I take to mean both the high cost of buying a place in which to live and renting a dwelling in Australia.

According to a survey of 227 cities published in the 2008 Demographia study of international housing affordability, Australia and New Zealand were the least affordable in the world. Demographia rates a city’s housing market affordable when the cost of an average home is three or less times the average household income. A four-year multiple is seriously unaffordable and a five-year multiple is severely unaffordable.

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