Ms FINOCCHIARO - 2013-05-15
Providing affordable housing is a priority for the Giles government. Can you advise the House what initiatives in Budget 2013-14 target this important area, and how does this government’s responsible action differ from that of the former Treasurer?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for her question. Budget 2013-14 invests $20m to accelerate land release in Palmerston East for residential development, and a further $4.3m for services to the Kilgariff subdivision in Alice Springs. This is greatly needed and is a significant investment. As I said yesterday in this Chamber, under the previous government the tap had been turned off in regard to land release.
The Country Liberal’s went to the last election with the commitment to deliver 2000 new, affordable homes across the Northern Territory during our first term: an ambitious and courageous target. This responsible budget invests $3.8m towards the delivery of Real Housing for Growth. It is an exciting and innovative project which will have a direct impact on the cost of living for ordinary Territorians.
Expressions of interest for this project were advertised on 27 February this year. Following that we held industry briefings across the Northern Territory where we received a very positive response from developers and investors. Expressions of interest closed on 17 April 2013, with a total of 30 proposals, containing a possible 1927 dwellings. This response rate far exceeded our expectations. Since then, the department has been working through all the proposals, and I am pleased to say that of over 30 received, only one did not conform.
We wanted 500 new dwellings in the first tranche of the project, and it appears we will end up with closer to 800. Budgets are all about numbers, and these are great numbers, not like the ones the former Treasurer left the new government to deal with. She dropped the ball on affordable housing and it has fallen to us to deliver where they failed. We are delivering in a big way.
In the last four years under Labor, around 1250 dwellings were constructed each year in the Northern Territory. Treasury and all the experts told us we needed at least 1700. Therefore, coming into government we were 1800 behind before we started. Just to keep up with rising demand, we not only have to get on top of this land release, we have to speed up the processes within government. That is exactly what we are working on. Labor was extremely reckless and irresponsible on this front, and ordinary Territorians are suffering because of the lack of action by Labor in land release and working with government departments. They were telling you what was needed. The developers were telling you what was needed. The general public was screaming out for land release, and Labor turned the tap off.
Madam Speaker, we have turned the tap back on and there will be more affordable houses available for Territorians in the near future as a result of the hard work being done now.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for her question. Budget 2013-14 invests $20m to accelerate land release in Palmerston East for residential development, and a further $4.3m for services to the Kilgariff subdivision in Alice Springs. This is greatly needed and is a significant investment. As I said yesterday in this Chamber, under the previous government the tap had been turned off in regard to land release.
The Country Liberal’s went to the last election with the commitment to deliver 2000 new, affordable homes across the Northern Territory during our first term: an ambitious and courageous target. This responsible budget invests $3.8m towards the delivery of Real Housing for Growth. It is an exciting and innovative project which will have a direct impact on the cost of living for ordinary Territorians.
Expressions of interest for this project were advertised on 27 February this year. Following that we held industry briefings across the Northern Territory where we received a very positive response from developers and investors. Expressions of interest closed on 17 April 2013, with a total of 30 proposals, containing a possible 1927 dwellings. This response rate far exceeded our expectations. Since then, the department has been working through all the proposals, and I am pleased to say that of over 30 received, only one did not conform.
We wanted 500 new dwellings in the first tranche of the project, and it appears we will end up with closer to 800. Budgets are all about numbers, and these are great numbers, not like the ones the former Treasurer left the new government to deal with. She dropped the ball on affordable housing and it has fallen to us to deliver where they failed. We are delivering in a big way.
In the last four years under Labor, around 1250 dwellings were constructed each year in the Northern Territory. Treasury and all the experts told us we needed at least 1700. Therefore, coming into government we were 1800 behind before we started. Just to keep up with rising demand, we not only have to get on top of this land release, we have to speed up the processes within government. That is exactly what we are working on. Labor was extremely reckless and irresponsible on this front, and ordinary Territorians are suffering because of the lack of action by Labor in land release and working with government departments. They were telling you what was needed. The developers were telling you what was needed. The general public was screaming out for land release, and Labor turned the tap off.
Madam Speaker, we have turned the tap back on and there will be more affordable houses available for Territorians in the near future as a result of the hard work being done now.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016