Housing Land Supply Bill 2018 (No. 19)

[3.49 p.m.]

Ms ARMITAGE (Launceston) - Mr President, my contribution will be short as most matters have been covered well by other members. I thank the Leader for the briefings that were organised, and the minister and the officers for the information they provided.

It would have been nice to have had the Housing Supply Side Options document earlier to go through and then consult further on some of the areas listed. It is good to have them now and certainly they were very useful.

I am pleased there will be a mix of housing, both private and public, in these areas. As mentioned by the member for Hobart, we are not going back to the old broadacre public housing areas that have caused so much grief in many electorates in the past.

I am pleased to see this is affordable housing. I assume that many blocks will be affordable also to private buyers. It has been mentioned there will be a mix. Will the First Home Owner Grant apply if someone buys a private block and builds a house in this area? That will not be excluded and will be a part of affordable housing?

Mrs Hiscutt - It is for eligible people. This is just a rezone.

Ms ARMITAGE - It is, but if we are selling some or we have a mix -

Mrs Hiscutt - This is just a rezone.

Ms ARMITAGE - I appreciate what this is, the affordable housing. I also appreciate that in many of the areas, there will be a substantial amount of money for things like infrastructure and roads. Am I be correct in assuming we might be seeing some RAFs coming forward once this starts? When you look at some of them - I notice one in my electorate, the Technopark precinct, is 5.16 hectares and 0.83 hectares, so coming up to about 59 900 square metres - while I appreciate by the time you take in green spaces and infrastructure, you are probably looking at about between 70 and 80 houses, which is still considerable, there would be quite a few roads, footpaths, sewerage, water and things that are not there now that need to go in.

I am really pleased to see that there will be consultation with the community. As the member for Windermere would remember, when we were on council a piece of Education department land was provided for public housing and there was some concern. It was really important to consult with people in the surrounding area. That is an important aspect of this bill and I am very pleased to see that is included.

It is also good to receive feedback from Rick Sassin from the HIA, who said -

We refer to the draft Residential Housing Supply Bill 2018 ...

HIA supports the form of the draft Bill and the process intended by it. HIA's support of the intent of the draft Bill is consistent with its support for the creation of housing for all Tasmanians.

It is good to see the HIA supports the use of crown land for the purpose of housing our community and assisting Tasmania's housing needs.

I was also pleased to see the groups that are included. I was looking for the members of the steering committee and the working group. It is probably worth putting that on the public record as I do not think anyone has put that on already.

Mr Gaffney - No, I think Mr Sassin was on it.

Ms ARMITAGE - He was. The steering committee - Tony Ferrall, Secretary, Department of Treasury and Finance, is the chair; Ruth McArdle, Deputy, Secretary, Department of Premier and Cabinet; Jenny Burgess, Deputy Secretary, Department of Education; Jason Jacobi, Deputy Secretary, Parks and Wildlife Service; Mr Peter White, Chief Executive, Housing Tasmania; Fiona Calvert, Director, Department of Treasury of Finance; and Andrew Finch, who most of us know well, Director, Department of Treasury and Finance.

It is good to see the names listed for the working group - Andrew Finch, Director, Department of Treasury and Finance, is the chair; Peter White, Chief Executive, Housing Tasmania; Stuart Fletcher, General Manager, Land Tasmania, Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and the Environment; Kym Goodes, CEO, TasCOSS; Pattie Chugg, Executive Officer, Shelter Tasmania; and Rick Sassin, Executive Director, Housing Industry Association Tasmania. I assume whoever replaced Michael Kerschbaum from the Master Builders Association, the new executive director, will take his spot.

It is nice to see there is a wide cross-section of people on the working group and the steering committee. All in all, Leader, I appreciate the briefings and I also appreciate the list we received, with questions and answers, which were really good because many of those questions were things raised with us. It makes it easier when you can go through and have a look. As mentioned by the member for Hobart, it was good to receive the email from the Hobart City Council, to get the answers and to find out, too, as the member for Elwick, Mr Willie, said, that many of their issues and concerns had been addressed. It was good to hear that both parties are in agreement with the legislation we have before us. I will be supporting the legislation.