Mr WOOD - 2011-05-03
In the Northern Territory Economy Budget Paper, you say between 2001 and 2006 4457 people over the age of 55 have left the Territory. Notwithstanding the figures used are outdated, it seems many people are not retiring in the Territory. Could this be that many of these people are from the rural area and are leaving because the government has not provided aged-care facilities in the rural area, or made land available for private retirement facilities’ investment; for example, in the Humpty Doo district centre? Why are there not any aged-care facilities in the rural area in this year’s budget? Are rural older people destined to retire down south or, even worse, disappear into the suburbs of Darwin and Palmerston?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome senior Territorians coming into the northern suburbs of Darwin and Palmerston, because there is nothing wrong with getting closer to where the services are. That is actually a demographic norm when it comes to the movement of seniors in their retirement years and where they choose to retire in the private investment marketplace.
If you look at those opportunities, it has been under a Labor government, doing good work with the Masons at Tiwi and the Catholics at Fannie Bay, which has ensured they have the land to invest in private retirement villages. That did not occur previously; it has blossomed under Labor. There is no doubt there is a good cohort of seniors in the rural area who are choosing to live there at some distance to the core service delivery areas, and also some distance to our major health infrastructure such as the hospital. That is a choice they make.
Through the Seniors portfolio held by a colleague of mine, we have been looking at the viability of private retirement in the rural area. That viability, as you know, is not yet there. That being said, what the government invests in is ensuring, if we get an environment where a private investment opportunity arises, we will look at the land component. We have a track record of doing this with both the Masons in Tiwi and the Catholics in Fannie Bay. We have been sending that message clearly to the private retirement sector of land availability opportunities for the rural area, when it becomes an economically viable situation. Until then, we will continue to invest in the public seniors housing scenario, which is what a government should do.
This budget contains funding for the Bellamack seniors village construction. Equally, for those in Alice Springs, it contains that all-important Larapinta seniors village. We have a planning document that looks at opportunities for growth around those rural nodes. I do not see why growth around rural nodes should exclude the opportunity for a private retirement village.
When the economics stacks up, the private sector goes in. What we have currently is tightly constrained credit markets as a result of the global financial crisis, so private investment is not there. They are not stumping up because of the constrained credit markets. That is why the government is supporting the economic drivers through this budget’s high infrastructure spend, recognising the reality of the market is the credit constraints are still in place in private sector investment.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome senior Territorians coming into the northern suburbs of Darwin and Palmerston, because there is nothing wrong with getting closer to where the services are. That is actually a demographic norm when it comes to the movement of seniors in their retirement years and where they choose to retire in the private investment marketplace.
If you look at those opportunities, it has been under a Labor government, doing good work with the Masons at Tiwi and the Catholics at Fannie Bay, which has ensured they have the land to invest in private retirement villages. That did not occur previously; it has blossomed under Labor. There is no doubt there is a good cohort of seniors in the rural area who are choosing to live there at some distance to the core service delivery areas, and also some distance to our major health infrastructure such as the hospital. That is a choice they make.
Through the Seniors portfolio held by a colleague of mine, we have been looking at the viability of private retirement in the rural area. That viability, as you know, is not yet there. That being said, what the government invests in is ensuring, if we get an environment where a private investment opportunity arises, we will look at the land component. We have a track record of doing this with both the Masons in Tiwi and the Catholics in Fannie Bay. We have been sending that message clearly to the private retirement sector of land availability opportunities for the rural area, when it becomes an economically viable situation. Until then, we will continue to invest in the public seniors housing scenario, which is what a government should do.
This budget contains funding for the Bellamack seniors village construction. Equally, for those in Alice Springs, it contains that all-important Larapinta seniors village. We have a planning document that looks at opportunities for growth around those rural nodes. I do not see why growth around rural nodes should exclude the opportunity for a private retirement village.
When the economics stacks up, the private sector goes in. What we have currently is tightly constrained credit markets as a result of the global financial crisis, so private investment is not there. They are not stumping up because of the constrained credit markets. That is why the government is supporting the economic drivers through this budget’s high infrastructure spend, recognising the reality of the market is the credit constraints are still in place in private sector investment.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016