Page 2698 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 12 August 2015
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The ACT government is investing in a major, long-term renewal of public housing that will further embed our longstanding approach of salt and peppering …
In another example, the Minister for Housing, on 6 May this year, said:
The public housing program will also enable an increased public housing presence in growth areas such as Gungahlin, west Belconnen and Molonglo, ensuring the continuation of a salt and pepper approach throughout the city as our city grows further.
Further, the Minister for Housing on 3 June in this place moved an amendment which included this paragraph:
… the Government will be maintaining the “salt and pepper” approach to public housing in existing suburbs, and expanding this approach to public housing in new and developing areas …
I hope you got that. It said:
… the Government will be maintaining the “salt and pepper” approach to public housing in existing suburbs, and expanding this approach to public housing in new and developing areas …
Just how does taking all public housing tenants out of the Northbourne Avenue corridor and not giving a commitment that a reasonable amount of new public housing will be built along that corridor continue the salt and pepper approach to public housing? How does this further embed the salt and pepper approach? Is the government really committed to continuing the salt and pepper approach to public housing? It does not really look like it.
I will give you an example. The Dropping off the edge report for 2015 shows that disadvantage is concentrated in a small number of communities within the ACT. These communities experience a complex web of disadvantage and bear a disproportionately high level of disadvantage within the territory. Disadvantage is concentrated, the report says; these communities bear a disproportionately high level of disadvantage within the territory.
The Dropping off the edge 2015 report shows that Chisholm is amongst the most disadvantaged communities in the ACT. It was not in there eight years or so years ago when the previous report was done but it is in there now. Chisholm is a lovely suburb, but according to the Dropping off the edge 2015 report it is one of the postcodes which ranked in the “most disadvantaged” group on more than five indicators.
The report found that these multiply disadvantaged postcodes had a number of dominant features. The Dropping off the edge report found that the dominant characteristics of the ACT’s multiply disadvantaged locations included (1) rental assistance; (2) poor education levels; (3) long-term unemployment; (4) low family income; (5) lack of internet access; (6) limited work skills; (7) disability; and (8)
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