Page 3677 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
higher than the national average and the third highest growth in Australia. The ACT continues to record the highest average weekly earnings in the country, around 14.8 per cent higher than the national average. Gross household disposable income per capita has increased by 81 per cent since 2001. Nationally, the increase in disposable income per capita in the same period was 55 per cent.
There are, as there always have been, even under Liberal governments, those in the community who struggle to meet cost of living pressures. The difference is that this ACT Labor government has a range of programs in place to provide practical assistance to Canberrans doing it tough.
The Commonwealth Grants Commission 2010 report on GST revenue sharing relativities highlights that the ACT’s socioeconomic status is high relative to other jurisdictions. At just over three per cent of the population, we have well below the average proportion of people who are most disadvantaged. This compares with the Australian average of just over 20 per cent. In the second most disadvantaged income quintile, there are just over six per cent of people in the ACT—again, well below the national average of 19.7 per cent.
There have been a number of claims made about housing affordability, most particularly for middle income earners. There is no doubt that the government recognises housing costs are a significant part of family budgets. The latest available Real Estate Institute of Australia data shows that the ACT continues to be the most affordable jurisdiction in Australia. The proportion of family income required to meet rent payments in the ACT is around 17 per cent, significantly lower than the national average of around 25 per cent. It has been like this for about five years.
The proportion of family income required to meet a home loan repayment in the ACT is 18.6 per cent, significantly lower than the national average of 34.2 per cent. For those most in need, the ACT provides the highest proportion of public housing in the country. Over eight per cent of the total dwellings in Canberra are public housing. This is almost double the national proportion. Additionally, rent in these properties is generally capped at 25 per cent of household income. The total rental subsidy provided in the 2009-10 financial year under this program was $114 million, with 11½ thousand Canberrans assisted. If I recall correctly, the shadow treasurer and his colleagues voted against this particular funding measure.
The government is continuing to implement its affordable action plan, which is, I think, universally accepted as the most innovative, affordable housing plan of any government in Australia. The plan addresses issues of housing affordability for homebuyers and for renters, and for those in community and public housing. The plan includes a range of initiatives targeted at stabilising house and land prices and increasing the supply of affordable housing. These initiatives include 20 per cent of dwellings in all new estates at or below the affordable price of $337,000. It also includes a homebuyer concession, deferral of duty, pensioner duty and land rent schemes.
The pensioner duty concession scheme assists pensioners to move to accommodation more suited to their needs by charging duty at a concessional rate. To the end of
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video