Page 4396 - Week 12 - Thursday, 24 October 2019
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public housing homes, including an additional 200 to grow the territory’s public housing portfolio. Minister Berry will, I am sure, be saying more about this in her contribution to this motion shortly.
I would like to conclude by welcoming Minister Rattenbury’s call for the analysis detailed in the motion, which I am happy to support. The government will get that underway. I foreshadow, in relation to Mr Parton’s amendment, that I will move a small amendment to his amendment seeking to extend the land tax exemption process. That is consistent with what the Assembly has already voted for. I will discuss how the scheme has performed to date when I speak on Mr Parton’s amendment later in the debate.
MR PARTON (Brindabella) (4.48): It is always fascinating to see what motions Mr Rattenbury places on the notice paper and then to come into this place and listen to what he has to say. It is fascinating because almost always he is calling on the government to fix a problem which he and his Greens colleague have a major responsibility for causing. Today is not much different. It is not quite a chapter in the fake divorce, because I think we are all on the same page in terms of seeking data, but I get the impression that we are seeing this fake divorce being played out between two lovers, the Labor Party and the Greens. Each will tell us that the other is to blame for all the stuff that they do not like while they split their assets and take credit for all the things they do like.
Having said that, let me say that we will be supporting this motion.
Paragraph 1(a) in Mr Rattenbury’s motion says:
… people experiencing homelessness, and those at risk of homelessness are amongst the most socially and economically disadvantaged people in Canberra and across the nation…
It is interesting that Mr Barr has just spoken about long-term loans. If Mr Rattenbury and Mr Barr were prepared to put their money where their mouths are, they would have spoken about this when the Barr government put an end to the agreement with CHC and called in the $50 million loan.
Mr Rattenbury and the Greens want to lay claim to social housing in this fake divorce from Mr Barr and the Labor Party. They want to stand outside this place and wax lyrical about how they want to see a better approach to social housing. But a lot of things have gone down that Mr Rattenbury should be somewhat ashamed of. There are a number of examples of Mr Rattenbury telling people one thing and doing or saying another.
I also want to point out that, additionally, this government, of which Mr Rattenbury is a member, continues to put enormous pressure on the private rental market, which is shrinking as a consequence of a number of policy directions in recent years. The biggest threat to the private rental market is the ever-increasing rates and land tax charges, which continue to shrink rental yield, and in many cases have shrunk it to a
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