Page 3595 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 18 September 2019
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to do with rates, land tax and all of the other disincentives to providing properties to the market. It is a delusional government which, after 18 years, do not accept responsibility for the city that they govern.
My colleague Ms Lawder was absolutely spot-on when she made mention of Kristen, Nige and Kate and their song this morning, because they were spot-on. Everyone but the Labor Party knows that you can get a better deal in Queanbeyan. Andrew Barr may as well be the New South Wales, or Queanbeyan, minister for economic development, because he is doing a great job; he is doing a superb job. He is doing a pretty good job of driving people to Murrumbateman and to Sutton, and to Queanbeyan as well. The reality is that there is no reason why land seven or eight kilometres that way should be so much cheaper than land on this side of the border.
As Mr Parton said, these people are still going to use our hospitals, they are still going to use our schools and they are still going to use our roads. Why don’t we harness this growth in the ACT? Why is it that those opposite seem so determined to drive people over the border? It makes me wonder what their dream for Canberra really is. It makes me wonder what their vision is for Canberra in 10 or 20 years time. It certainly does not seem to be one of suburbia, it does not seem to be one of family and it does not seem to be one for the working poor.
They talk about the difficulty this government is having in attracting bus drivers in the ACT. They talk about the problems of getting somebody to drive a bus on the weekend. This sort of problem will only increase in the ACT if we keep pricing them out of Canberra. With respect to the services that we depend on, all of the hardworking people of Canberra who deliver services for people in this building are being absolutely rejected by Labor and the Greens.
We do not think that it is unreasonable that somebody should strive to have their own house. We do not think that it is unreasonable that somebody can afford to rent in this city. What we do think is suboptimal is to have people move into public housing as their only option. We need to have social housing. We need to have that safety net. But we should not be actively trying to push people into social housing. That should be the housing of last resort. Instead this government’s policy is driving more and more people below the poverty line. Median rents of $550, $560 or $570 a week, nearing $30,000 a year in post-tax income, are absolutely outrageous.
It is absolutely outrageous that after 18 years of Labor they have priced the working poor out of the national capital. There is no denying this fact. The Labor Party claim to be socially progressive. The Labor Party claim to be one for workers. They are not. The Labor Party are for elites. They are an intolerant Labor Party that only stand for people with their very narrow world view. They are not a Labor Party that are welcoming of thousands of Canberrans who are doing it tough.
As Mr Parton mentioned, Ms Le Couteur’s amendment does have some reasonable points, but, of course, in amongst them are many unreasonable points, and if she were serious about trying to get a tripartisan amendment up, surely she would have left out all of the political attacks on the federal government and/or the Liberal Party. It shows that this government, including the Greens, have no genuine response to the housing
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