Page 3585 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 18 September 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
(a) delivering on a 2016 election commitment to develop a new ACT housing strategy in October 2018;
(b) investing in public housing by:
(i) committing $100 million to grow public housing;
(ii) completing the renewal of 1288 homes under the Public Housing Renewal Program; and
(iii) over the 10 years to 2024, investing more than $1 billion in public housing and renewed approximately 20 percent of the portfolio;
(c) under the Labor/Greens Parliamentary Agreement, the Government has broadened its affordable housing land release targets to cover community and public housing, as well as both greenfield and urban renewal land releases;
(d) commencing a ‘Housing Choices’ review of planning rules to encourage supply of ‘missing middle’ housing such as townhouses; and
(e) seeking a waiver of historical housing debts from the Commonwealth Government to redirect the savings into social and affordable housing, in line with deals reached with Tasmania and South Australia over their housing debt to the Commonwealth;
(4) further notes that, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the ACT’s tax per capita is in line with the national average and significantly lower than New South Wales and Victoria;
(5) calls on the ACT Government to further assist rental affordability by:
(a) extending the pilot land tax concessions program for property owners who make properties available at less than 75 percent of the current market rate while keeping the cap at 100 properties until an evaluation of the program is done;
(b) providing certainty for the community housing sector to grow by including a four-year pipeline of community housing land release in the 2020/21 Indicative Land Release Program and pricing this land appropriately considering conditions of sale; and
(c) commencing community consultation on the first draft Territory Plan Variation under Housing Choices prior to the end of 2019; and
(6) further calls on the parliamentary leaders of ACT Assembly parties to write a joint letter to the Prime Minister to support the waiver of historical housing debts from the Commonwealth Government.”.
The Greens cannot support Mr Coe’s motion because it is wrong on the causes of housing unaffordability and therefore wrong on the solutions. I have to agree: housing is unaffordable for many people, particularly those who are renting. Rental vacancies are at near historical lows in the ACT, and of the rental properties that are available very few are affordable for those on lower incomes. The most recent Anglicare rental affordability snapshot on 23 March this year found only 22 individual properties in Canberra and Queanbeyan that were affordable for people living on income support payments without placing them in housing stress. Perhaps more surprisingly, only 2.4 per cent of rental vacancies were affordable for a family of four with two parents earning the minimum wage.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video