The ACT has a housing crisis.

The median price for a detached house is over a million dollars, and we have the highest median rent in the country. In the face of this unfolding challenge over the past few years, this Labor Greens government has failed to act. It has failed to hit its own – already inadequate – land sales targets. It has failed to plan for and meet demand for detached housing.

Labor-Greens government knows that Canberrans want to live in houses, and not be forced into highrise towers. This government’s own housing choices community survey of 2015, known as the ‘Winton report’ showed that almost 85 per cent of Canberrans would prefer to live in a detached house. There is also support for dual occupancies and townhouses. Only 1.7 per cent want to live in an apartment block of more than three storeys.

This is a government that has simply chosen to ignore this inconvenient truth.

Recent land ballots have seen thousands and thousands of people applying to buy less than one hundred blocks in some suburbs.

Whitlam – only this month had 12,417 applicants for 101 blocks. Macnamara, in February, had 8,700 applicants for 71 blocks. Taylor, in November last year, had 7,484 applicants for 115 blocks. And a previous ballot in Whitlam which took place in March last year; 7,566 applicants for 92 blocks.

As if these figures were not bad enough; to make this situation worse, despite the overwhelming demand for land to build detached housing, this Labor Greens government only plans to release 4,171 blocks over the next five years.

“This is a government that is leaving behind thousands of Canberrans who are seeing – before their very eyes – their dreams of owning their own home disappear.”

And even taking their already inadequate land sales targets, we know this Labor Greens government don’t deliver on these targets…and we get no adequate explanation as to why.

So whilst the Labor and the Greens are too busy high fiving each other on a job well done, let’s not forget the thousands and thousands of Canberrans for whom the dream of owning their own home is no longer a possibility.

The fact is this is the result of a complacent, arrogant government that is out of touch with what the Canberra community need and want.

While this government likes to blame the pandemic for every one of their failings over the last two years, this is a government that has had 20 years to plan for today’s Canberra; a Canberra that is seeing eye watering prices for houses – for purchase and for rent – that is, if you can even get one.