Page 1719 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 15 May 2019
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talking about. That is economic management at the commonwealth level, and that is what directly impacts on people here in the ACT.
In contrast, Labor has announced all its policies and commitments, has had them fully costed by the independent parliamentary budget office, and released them last Friday, well in advance of polling day on Saturday, for all Australians to see. And there are some very significant commitments for our city, including $200 million towards the second stage of light rail; an extra $100 million to duplicate the Barton Highway between Canberra and Murrumbateman; $67 million for Dunns Creek Road, servicing Jerrabomberra and Queanbeyan; $20 million for a capital region space industry hub—after that outrageously political decision to locate the national headquarters in Adelaide, it is pleasing to see federal Labor committing to more jobs in a space industry hub here in the capital region; $7 million for sports facility upgrades at Kippax and Tuggeranong; and bike path upgrades across the city.
These financial commitments are in addition to ending the coalition’s disruptive and harmful decentralisation agenda that would move hundreds of APS employees and their families out of Canberra, mostly driven by the National Party, I would acknowledge, but still part of the coalition. They are part of the coalition, and the Liberal Party cannot form government in 99 elections out of 100 without them. And they are still out there seeking to take jobs out of Canberra—pointless exercises, counterproductive exercises like the APVMA into Barnaby Joyce’s own electorate in Armidale. The other important commitment that our federal Labor colleagues have made is that the staffing cap that has put public servants under extreme stress will be ended and efficiency dividends that have been baked into the forward estimates will be reversed.
Combined, federal Labor, should it form government this Saturday, has now committed at least $500 million more investment in Canberra and the immediate region than the coalition. This is particularly important because we know that the territory’s gross state product is estimated to be hit by $110 million for every 1,000 APS jobs that are cut in the ACT. The choice is, indeed, very clear.
I would now like to turn to the second part of my amendment. It is indeed the case that housing affordability is an issue for many Australians around the country and here in Canberra. We certainly welcome the proposed reforms at the commonwealth level that will put first home buyers on a level playing field with investors and encourage investment in new builds—and this is an important point—to encourage investment in new houses instead of existing properties.
At the territory level we have made the largest investment in public housing renewal and growth in Canberra’s history. The Deputy Chief Minister will have more to say about this shortly, but I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Minister Berry on her extensive work that has been undertaken in developing the growing and renewing public housing 2019-24 plan that builds on a very significant period of renewal already. This new plan for the next five years outlines how we will invest $600 million to renew 1,000 public homes and add 200 new public homes to our city’s public housing stock. Per capita, this is the highest investment in public housing by any government in the country.
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