Page 1370 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
disappoint me that I do not think Havelock Housing have the complete confidence of the minister at this stage with regard to the expansion of their stock and their management of their stock. I think Havelock and Community Housing Canberra are doing very good work and it would be a shame not to see their work expanded through the stimulus package, through the $96 million.
The amendment that I moved puts a particular focus on community housing and investing in it but it also did not state that a very thorough engagement with the sector would be required prior to receiving the stimulus package and determining where the money would be spent. I think it would be a great shame, a tremendous shame, if this motion moved today does in fact hamstring the ability of the ACT government to allocate this money. If the ACT government is not able to give out $96 million as per the state, territory and federal government agreement, it would be a tremendous shame and it would simply be this Assembly’s doing, I believe, that would hamstring that process.
I understand that it is possible that not all the states and territories will be able to spend their money in time and that there may well be an opportunity for the ACT to go around in a second phase to get any money that was not spent. There is a tremendous opportunity there not only to spend the $96 million properly and to spend it quickly but to possibly get an additional round of funding—possibly $10 million, $20 million, $30 million. The amount we will not know until the other states and territories have actually allocated their funds and constructed their dwellings.
I understand that COAG agreed to a reform agenda at the end of this week. I believe the ACT minister for housing and his colleagues from around Australia will be meeting to talk about this and about how they can implement it. I do hope that the minister does strongly consider community housing when he goes to that meeting and I do hope that community housing is given a fair go and is treated on a level footing when the money is being allocated.
I cannot stress enough that I am very concerned that this motion could in fact limit the ability of the ACT building industry to construct homes. I am very concerned that this might be the case. That would have a huge negative consequence for us. It would not only affect the number of public housing and community housing stock that we would have available here in the territory but would also not provide the stimulus that it is meant to do. This is meant to provide a stimulus by injecting money into our community, into our building industry, which will then flow on through the rest of our economy.
If this motion does in fact restrain our ability to give out this money and to invest in public housing and to invest in our economy, the Assembly will only have itself to blame, and I do hope that is not the case.
In conclusion, I would like to once again put my and the Canberra Liberals’ strong support for community housing and the excellent work that Havelock Housing Association and Community Housing Canberra are doing in our community, and I hope that their work will be supported in this stimulus package.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .