Mr MITCHELL - 1999-08-11
The Defence Housing Authority has already committed millions of dollars to buying land and building homes both in Darwin/Palmerston and in Katherine. What future needs will the authority have for land and homes in the Top End?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the member’s question follows on very nicely from the question from the Leader of the Opposition. I met with Defence Housing Authority officials just the other day to discuss its future needs to take care of the housing requirements of defence personnel in the Northern Territory.
There has been some concern, particularly in the construction industry, that the Defence Housing Authority, which has been very strong in the growth of its building program over the last three years - in fact, it has built 450 homes, particularly in Darwin and Palmerston and also in Katherine - may be tapering off. 450 homes is a lot, obviously. Defence spent some $450m here in wages and equipment in the last year or so. It is now about the third largest spending sector in the north. Defence is very important. Defence personnel make up 12% of the Darwin/Palmerston population and a considerable percentage of the Katherine population.
In that meeting the other day, I was very pleased to hear that Defence Housing has a programmed construction requirement for housing over the next five years of about 1000. That is a very considerable amount if you look at it on a yearly basis - about a house every two days. So that is good news for the construction industry and the economy, and certainly for jobs growth in the Northern Territory. Defence has been very instrumental as a catalyst for some of the drive in the housing construction industry in the past, and it’s good news that that will continue.
My frustration as minister for lands is in trying to ensure that there is a good, timely release of further land for development. It’s not easy to find 200 house sites a year when you …
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BALDWIN: Mr Speaker, I am not sure that the member for Nhulunbuy is at all interested in the work of the defence industry in the north. But I am sure Territorians are interested in hearing of further jobs. If we are talking about height restrictions, one of the other things that Defence Housing is currently doing, as anybody who has been reading the paper would know, is calling for expressions of interest in the Carey Street development. This is a $27m development of 90 units for defence personnel. That will put more cranes on the skyline, bring more jobs and be good for the economy.
As I’ve said, my job is to make sure there is timely release of land. One of the frustrations I have as a minister of this government, and Territorians have, is the fact that part of the land administration system is native title, and native title is a restrictive measure at the moment in places like Palmerston - in Rosebery and Bellamack, for instance. The government has planned for the expansion of those suburbs over the next five years. Palmerston has one of the highest growth rates in Australia - we all know that. We have planned into the future. Five years of planning have gone into that. All the water mains are in, and the sewerage. The electricity is about to go in.
Unfortunately, native title has put a stop to that until we can go through the acquisition process of native title. That is something that I have started, but the problem with that process is that it’s uncertain. While we can move in other directions - our strategic planning is there for a million people in the city of Darwin, and we know where to head - we are being restricted in that regard. In fact, we’ve had to move to places like Farrar. We’ve had to design wholly new suburbs to allow for the growth of Palmerston, to allow for block prices at a reasonable level for new home owners to be able to purchase and build and to encourage people to continue to come to the Northern Territory.
It is a frustrating process. It’s an uncertain process, although it’s a process that we have started. We’ve started it in Darwin, for instance. But the other day a claim was put right around the town of Katherine on various areas of Crown land. The acquisition process will now have to be started there. Alice Springs is the same. We have a restriction on land.
We have great growth in the Northern Territory, particularly in Darwin and the Top End, we have to make sure we have a continual supply of good quantities of land. In fact, Defence Housing has just had to take up a number of blocks in the 2 Mile development, which was another strategic release of government land - one I am sure the Leader of the Opposition supports.
Ms Martin: It’s absolutely welcome. That’s not a problem, is it?
Mr BALDWIN: No, that’s good. My point is that we have been strategically releasing government land to enable development to continue. But land is a finite resource. When you go into areas where native title has been claimed, then we have to go through the process, obviously, of acquiring native title. I call on the opposition members to lend a hand in this process if they’ve got any influence. For instance, the Bellamack/Rosebery claim is a claim by the Larrakia people. Mr Ah Kit, I am sure, will know about this.
Mr Ah Kit: The member for Arnhem.
Mr BALDWIN: The member for Arnhem will know about this. The problem with dealing with acquisition, which is a known but uncertain process and it’s lengthy, is that you have to know who the claimants are. There are quite a few parties of claimants within that claim and it’s a very hard and difficult process to go through. My point is that it is uncertain. We are trying our best to make sure that there is strategic release of land for the future development of Darwin, Palmerston, Katherine and so on.
I welcome the commitment by the Defence Housing Authority to the programmed building strategy that they have – 1000 new houses going up in the next five years. That will add to the economy of the Northern Territory, but we must ensure that there is timely release of land.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the member’s question follows on very nicely from the question from the Leader of the Opposition. I met with Defence Housing Authority officials just the other day to discuss its future needs to take care of the housing requirements of defence personnel in the Northern Territory.
There has been some concern, particularly in the construction industry, that the Defence Housing Authority, which has been very strong in the growth of its building program over the last three years - in fact, it has built 450 homes, particularly in Darwin and Palmerston and also in Katherine - may be tapering off. 450 homes is a lot, obviously. Defence spent some $450m here in wages and equipment in the last year or so. It is now about the third largest spending sector in the north. Defence is very important. Defence personnel make up 12% of the Darwin/Palmerston population and a considerable percentage of the Katherine population.
In that meeting the other day, I was very pleased to hear that Defence Housing has a programmed construction requirement for housing over the next five years of about 1000. That is a very considerable amount if you look at it on a yearly basis - about a house every two days. So that is good news for the construction industry and the economy, and certainly for jobs growth in the Northern Territory. Defence has been very instrumental as a catalyst for some of the drive in the housing construction industry in the past, and it’s good news that that will continue.
My frustration as minister for lands is in trying to ensure that there is a good, timely release of further land for development. It’s not easy to find 200 house sites a year when you …
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BALDWIN: Mr Speaker, I am not sure that the member for Nhulunbuy is at all interested in the work of the defence industry in the north. But I am sure Territorians are interested in hearing of further jobs. If we are talking about height restrictions, one of the other things that Defence Housing is currently doing, as anybody who has been reading the paper would know, is calling for expressions of interest in the Carey Street development. This is a $27m development of 90 units for defence personnel. That will put more cranes on the skyline, bring more jobs and be good for the economy.
As I’ve said, my job is to make sure there is timely release of land. One of the frustrations I have as a minister of this government, and Territorians have, is the fact that part of the land administration system is native title, and native title is a restrictive measure at the moment in places like Palmerston - in Rosebery and Bellamack, for instance. The government has planned for the expansion of those suburbs over the next five years. Palmerston has one of the highest growth rates in Australia - we all know that. We have planned into the future. Five years of planning have gone into that. All the water mains are in, and the sewerage. The electricity is about to go in.
Unfortunately, native title has put a stop to that until we can go through the acquisition process of native title. That is something that I have started, but the problem with that process is that it’s uncertain. While we can move in other directions - our strategic planning is there for a million people in the city of Darwin, and we know where to head - we are being restricted in that regard. In fact, we’ve had to move to places like Farrar. We’ve had to design wholly new suburbs to allow for the growth of Palmerston, to allow for block prices at a reasonable level for new home owners to be able to purchase and build and to encourage people to continue to come to the Northern Territory.
It is a frustrating process. It’s an uncertain process, although it’s a process that we have started. We’ve started it in Darwin, for instance. But the other day a claim was put right around the town of Katherine on various areas of Crown land. The acquisition process will now have to be started there. Alice Springs is the same. We have a restriction on land.
We have great growth in the Northern Territory, particularly in Darwin and the Top End, we have to make sure we have a continual supply of good quantities of land. In fact, Defence Housing has just had to take up a number of blocks in the 2 Mile development, which was another strategic release of government land - one I am sure the Leader of the Opposition supports.
Ms Martin: It’s absolutely welcome. That’s not a problem, is it?
Mr BALDWIN: No, that’s good. My point is that we have been strategically releasing government land to enable development to continue. But land is a finite resource. When you go into areas where native title has been claimed, then we have to go through the process, obviously, of acquiring native title. I call on the opposition members to lend a hand in this process if they’ve got any influence. For instance, the Bellamack/Rosebery claim is a claim by the Larrakia people. Mr Ah Kit, I am sure, will know about this.
Mr Ah Kit: The member for Arnhem.
Mr BALDWIN: The member for Arnhem will know about this. The problem with dealing with acquisition, which is a known but uncertain process and it’s lengthy, is that you have to know who the claimants are. There are quite a few parties of claimants within that claim and it’s a very hard and difficult process to go through. My point is that it is uncertain. We are trying our best to make sure that there is strategic release of land for the future development of Darwin, Palmerston, Katherine and so on.
I welcome the commitment by the Defence Housing Authority to the programmed building strategy that they have – 1000 new houses going up in the next five years. That will add to the economy of the Northern Territory, but we must ensure that there is timely release of land.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016