Page 2231 - Week 07 - Thursday, 27 August 2020
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MADAM SPEAKER: She has made reference to the responsibilities of the planning minister and is talking about the SLA documentation.
MS BERRY: The document under the planning minister’s remit is the Planning and Development Act. That is where it sits. There is my answer.
MR PARTON: Minister—whichever one—have any residential blocks of land been sold for prices below valuation, the reserve or the list price? Again: have any residential blocks of land been sold for prices below valuation, the reserve or the list price?
MS BERRY: I will take that question on notice to find out exactly if that is the case. If it is the case then I can provide that response back to Mr Parton.
MR WALL: Minister, have there been any instances where Mr Fluffy blocks have sold for prices below their valuation, their reserve or their list price?
MS BERRY: Again I will have to take that question on notice. It sits with Minister Suzanne Orr. I can get that advice and, if that is the case, I can provide that information from Ms Orr.
Housing—affordability
MR WALL: My question is to the Minister for Housing and Suburban Development. Minister, during the last five years the Barr Labor government has overseen a near 30 per cent increase in the median house rental price in Canberra, to now $575 per week. Rates, taxes, fees and charges have also increased dramatically through the same period. Minister, is paying $575 a week in rent affordable for Canberra families?
MS BERRY: I would say that the country is experiencing a rental crisis; that is for sure. The ACT is not alone in that issue and the effect that it is having on members of our community. So the ACT government is working hard to ensure that people get into homes that they can afford to stay in, spending millions of dollars on public, affordable and community housing over the next six years and over the last five years. More than just selling off public housing or making promises that you cannot keep, the ACT government is working very hard to make sure that people have support for rental properties, public housing and affordable housing, and making sure that they have choices about where they live across our beautiful city.
MR WALL: Minister, why has the Barr government driven up rental prices to a nation-leading $575 a week when Canberrans are already struggling with cost of living pressures?
MS BERRY: It has not.
MR PARTON: Minister, what do you have to say to Canberra families who are struggling with your legacy of a $575 a week rent?
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