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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Lucy Bladen

Barr hopeful of progress on more land for housing soon

Chief Minister Andrew Barr. Picture by Karleen Minney

Chief Minister Andrew Barr is hopeful there will be deals with the Commonwealth and NSW governments around opening up land for housing in the territory.

Mr Barr said there were negotiations with the federal government around Commonwealth-owned sites in the territory which could be used for housing.

The CSIRO Ginninderra Experiment Station site in Canberra's north is a key site which the governments have been negotiating on. The ACT wants to use the 701 hectares of land for an additional 20,800 properties.

The government could also add more properties in Bruce as part of is redevelopment of the Australian Institute of Sport precinct.

"We hope to have some progress on that fairly soon," Mr Barr said.

The Chief Minister also said he met with NSW Premier Chris Minns last month to discuss moving the ACT's border.

The ACT government has long pushed for the territory border to be expanded in the north-west to incorporate the Parkwood land, which is in NSW and is part of the Yass Valley Council.

Mr Barr had received in-principle support for the move from former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet.

"I had a meeting with Premier Minns only a month or so ago to brief him ... he understood why we would be asking the question," Mr Barr said.

"So we concluded that meeting with the view that we would continue to work towards that outcome."

Mr Barr made the comments as he announced housing initiatives to be included in next week's ACT budget. The focus of the $345 million package is to increase the number of long-term affordable rental properties in the territory.

But the government did not announce plans for more social housing properties than what it has previously promised. The government committed to 600 new affordable rentals and 400 new public housing properties in 2020 as part of the power-sharing agreement between Labor and Greens.

The Chief Minister said the government would have the capacity to increase its targets following the passing of a new territory plan and if the federal Senate passed the Housing Australia Future Fund.

A vote on the $10 billion fund was deferred until October following a federal Greens motion.

The ACT government announced a $60 million fund where community housing providers and build-to-rent operators will be able to submit proposals for financial support for "shovel-ready" projects. Mr Barr said the government could commit more when the future fund was implemented.

"It really is beholden on the Senate to get its act together and I'm hopeful that it will in time," he said.

"Whilst the Senate is busy playing politics, the rest of us are getting on with trying to deliver an actual outcome on the ground."

The ACT Council of Social Service welcomed the territory government's investment, saying it was a necessary intervention to address a shortfall of social housing dwellings in the ACT.

"With 3,159 applicants currently on the social housing waiting list, there is an urgent need for significant growth in public housing stock in the ACT," ACTCOSS chief executive Devin Bowles said.

"The need for rapid growth to meet population demands is underscored by an average waiting time for standard housing that exceeds five years in the ACT."

Opposition housing spokesman Mark Parton was sceptical about whether the government would be able to keep their promise.

"I think Canberrans have got to the point where they don't believe the promises. Year after year this government promises to spend bucket loads of money fixing public housing, fixing the rental crisis and none of it happens," Mr Parton said.

"On the face of it we can clap our hands and say this looks great but I'll believe it when I see it."

But Mr Parton would not be drawn on whether he supported the federal Liberals' decision to not back the Housing Australia Future Fund.

"I'm happy to leave federal matters to those who are elected to represent us up on the hill," he said.

"I don't have a vote in the Federal Parliament and I'll leave that to be decided by those who do."

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