Senator for the ACT, Zed Seselja, today announced 243 hectares of the CSIRO’s Ginninderra site will be sold off for housing by the end of the year should the coalition federal government be re-elected.

Lamenting a “land squeeze” he laid responsibility for at the feet of the ACT Government, Senator Seselja said the Belconnen plot would accommodate approximately 2000 blocks “for family homes”.

“We don’t believe that everyone wants an apartment, many do, but we know based on the land releases that have been there in recent times, there are a lot more people that want family homes than are being offered by the current ACT Government,” he said.

Canberra Liberals leader, Elizabeth Lee, said the 2000 homes on the site would constitute nearly half the ACT Government’s own slate of land release for “the next five years”.

“We know that there is a huge demand for more land, because Canberrans want options when it comes to housing,” Ms Lee said.

“Over 12,000 applicants applied for just 101 blocks in Whitlam earlier this year; there is clear demand for more land.”

READ MORE: Canberra Liberals call for new housing survey

An ACT Government spokesperson told Canberra Daily Senator Seselja’s announcement is “not a ground-breaking” one.

“It’s not surprising that yet again, after years of work, it’s taken a federal election with the Liberal Senator clearly under pressure to swoop in and manufacture this announcement,” the spokesperson said.

The land release plan for a portion of the CSIRO Ginninderra site was first announced in 2018 – the process that followed didn’t eventuate in the land being sold.

According to the ACT Government spokesperson, they have worked with the Commonwealth for “a number of years” on the sale of the site.

“A number of ACT Government directorates have been providing advice to CSIRO on development impacts and a number of planning and infrastructure matters. These include school provision, road network impacts, environmental management, and processes around its potential conversion from National Land to Territory Land.”

Senator Seselja refuted the claim that this is a recycled announcement.

After the CSIRO’s own processes fell through, Senator Seselja said he personally raised this directly with the Commonwealth Minister responsible for the CSIRO, Melissa Price, and Minister for Housing, Michael Sukkar.

“I said we need to just cut through these processes and release it to market,” Senator Seselja said.

He insisted the land would be released to private sector, not to the ACT Government.

“The reason for that is because if we were to release it to the ACT Government, my fear is that they would land bank it in the same way they are land banking so much land around the Territory.”

READ MORE: ‘Big picture structural changes’ needed to fix housing woes: REIA

The ACT Government spokesperson said the Territory would have a “strong interest” in acquiring the land “should the property be made available for sale”.

“The ACT would be committed to bringing forward housing for sale as quickly as possible, with a focus on meeting community needs,” they said.

“It is unclear if the private market would have the capacity to deliver housing in the next five to 10 years, and it is highly unlikely that a private developer would have a focus on providing affordable housing needs.”

The spokesperson called on Senator Seselja to fight for the Commonwealth to wipe the ACT’s historic housing debt with the Commonwealth “if he is serious about addressing housing affordability in the ACT”.

“Wiping the ACT’s historic housing debt with the Commonwealth to allow more investment from the ACT Government into social and affordable housing,” they said.

The ACT has two historic housing loans from the Commonwealth, totalling $115 million, which were provided around the start of self-government in 1989.

Minister Sukkar has previously stated the Federal Government would only consider forgiving the debt if the ACT Government met certain conditions around cutting red tape for new housing and increasing supply.

Canberra Daily would love to hear from you about a story idea in the Canberra and surrounding region. Click here to submit a news tip.