Page 2910 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 24 June 2009
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Liberal Party believe that a fraud of some kind has been perpetrated upon us, but in my mind it is time to let go of that frustration and move on to a new obsession.
In the end, this scheme is one of several strategies that emerged as part of the previous government’s response to an ongoing campaign on housing affordability, a campaign which the Greens have helped to sustain over many years. The Greens would like to see this scheme given the chance to succeed.
The Greens do not accept that there is some underlying assumption that the scheme is a fabrication, has been perpetrated through dishonesty and is bound to catch people out. The Greens will not be supporting this motion or the proposed amendment. I do not believe there is any need to go into this debate in any more detail.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (5.53): We only have to read the letter from Genworth to the government to know that every excuse, every reason and every fabrication that has been put forward by the Labor Party today is wrong. Genworth actually made decisions based on fact. They actually say that they will support OwnPlace. Clearly, the global financial crisis did not stop the support for OwnPlace going ahead, but the global financial crisis stopped support for land rent going ahead. How does that figure? The last two paragraphs of Genworth’s letter to the government states:
Genworth is able to provide lenders mortgage insurance on loans under the OwnPlace program, designed to allow lower income households to purchase house and land packages under $300,000. Applications will be assessed according to Genworth’s current Underwriting Policy across our full range of products.
Apparently in that paragraph there is no global financial crisis. But in the next line Genworth states:
The only exclusion relates to any land that is under the Land Rent Scheme.
Suddenly the global financial crisis overcame this letter; the global financial crisis occurred before it got posted! That is the great lie that is being perpetrated. The Chief Minister failed to say that, when measured against the seven criteria outlined by Genworth, the land rent scheme failed to gain support. To say that Genworth’s real reason for not supporting the land rent scheme is the global financial crisis is just not true.
It is quite clear that Genworth made decisions based on fact. That allowed them to back OwnPlace; it allowed them not to back or not want to back or go ahead with land rent. We find out today from the front page of the Canberra Times the detail that the Chief Minister could not tell this place about yesterday—how people wanting to access the land rent scheme will get a loan from the CPS. I move:
Add:
“(3) calls on the Chief Minister to table, by close of business 25 June 2009, details of the partnership agreement with Community CPS Australia including any special arrangements in relation to the position of the
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