The ACT Greens, Canberra Liberals, and ACT Independent Senator David Pocock all called out ACT Labor Senator and Federal Finance Minister Katy Gallagher for changing her position on a pre-election promise to waive the ACT’s historic housing debt.

During the 2022 federal election campaign, Senator Gallagher campaigned to waive the ACT’s $98.3 million public housing debt, and was critical of the then Federal Coalition Government for refusing to forgive the debt.

During Senate Estimates on 22 October 2019, she said to former Senator and Assistant Minister for Finance, Zed Seselja, ‘You’re in a position of power. You get to sign it off.’

After pressure from ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr and ACT Independent Senator David Pocock to stand by her promise, Senator Gallagher has changed her tune and told reporters in Canberra earlier this month that “the Federal Government is not in a position to waive the Territory’s historic housing debt” in the upcoming Federal Budget.

“But I’m not Finance Minister for the ACT, as much as at times I would like to be, I’m Finance Minister of the country, and I don’t think it’s right to waive debts for the price of a vote on the Senate floor, which is how it’s happened in the past. We’ve got grownups in charge,” she said.

Senator Gallagher was referencing a deal the Morrison Government made with Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie whereby the government waived Tasmania’s $150 million housing debt in exchange for her support in a separate matter.

“We’ll continue to engage with the ACT Government. I’ve had meetings with the Chief Minister about it,” Senator Gallagher said.

“I know this is an issue that they would like to see resolved. We want to be a government that works with states and territories.”

ACT Shadow Minister for Housing Mark Parton put forward a motion in the Legislative Assembly yesterday, Wednesday 19 October, asking all party leaders to write to Senator Gallagher condemning her “backflip”.

“If the Chief Minister and his Greens colleagues are serious about public housing in the ACT, they will agree to this motion, condemn Senator Gallagher in the strongest terms on her backflip, and call for the debt to be wiped,” Mr Parton said.

“Despite the Chief Minister’s rhetoric since the federal election, it appears the ACT government has no sway with the federal government if they are unable to have this debt waived as was indicated prior to the election.”

He said in the ACT Legislative Assembly yesterday that ACT Labor emphasised the importance of the debt when Scott Morrison was Prime Minister and Zed Seselja was an ACT Senator, but “all of a sudden, it’s not so important”.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr put forward an amendment to Mr Parton’s motion, removing the line that called on all party leaders to write to Senator Gallagher “condemning in the strongest terms her backflip”.

Instead, Mr Barr’s amendment committed the ACT government to report back on progress made in relation to working with the Commonwealth to negotiate the debt being waived and then its implementation.

Mr Barr said it is “disappointing” there will not be a line item in the Budget next Tuesday night that explicitly waives the ACT housing debt, but that he is involved in discussions with the Commonwealth and other states and territories, as the ACT is not alone in this issue.

He said he is “as much in favour of jurisdictions being able to negotiate a better outcome in relation to the future housing and homelessness agreements as I am in the ACT”.

Mr Barr maintains that he has stayed “entirely consistent” with his previous stance of calling out the former Federal Coalition Government to waive the debt.

ACT Greens Johnathon Davis ‘very disappointed’

ACT Greens Member for Brindabella Johnathan Davis MLA said in the Assembly yesterday that he was “very disappointed” to hear Senator Gallagher’s comments and that the upcoming Federal Budget will not include waiving the ACT’s historic housing debt.

Although, he was also critical of Mr Parton’s motion and alleged hypocrisy in the Liberals’ motives.

“For nine years, we had a Federal Coalition Government that did not want to do anything about this debt, so we saw two things: the Labor Party here in the ACT take the hit that was kind of obvious because the Federal Coalition just would not pony up the dough and help us out; and a silent Canberra Liberal Party that had nothing to say on the issue for nine years,” Mr Davis said.

“Now we have a brand-new Albanese Labor Government that has not done anything yet. This Assembly is obviously frustrated about it. So, we have shades of defence coming from my Labor colleagues and absolute, apoplectic outrage from my Liberal colleagues.

“No outrage for the last nine years. This is not a new debt; it is just a new government, which shows that the Canberra Liberals’ continued new activism around this space is motivated purely by politics.”

Mr Davis’s successful motion calling on the newly elected Albanese Labor Government to forgive the debt received tri-partisan support in the ACT Legislative Assembly in June.

“That the Albanese Labor Government is ‘in a position’ to back in the Morrison Government’s stage 3 tax cuts but ‘not in a position’ to support the ACT Government’s ambition to end homelessness by buying and building more public housing is a slap in the face to every Canberran struggling to secure a roof over their head,” he said.

Mr Davis also commended ACT Senator David Pocock for his advocacy around the issue.

Pocock: ‘government choosing to let people sleep in cars’

ACT Senator David Pocock has expressed his displeasure over Senator Gallagher’s 180-degree flip and called out the federal government for looking like they’re “choosing to let people sleep in cars while planning to give tax cuts to politicians and other wealthy Australians”.

He said more than half of the current funding the ACT receives from the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement from the federal government is returned in interest payments on the historic debt – and the money should instead be invested in new housing supply.

“Senator Gallagher may, of course, say the government won’t be doing any deals, but the fact remains the government doesn’t have a majority in the Senate. I wouldn’t be doing the right thing by the people who elected me if I didn’t try everything possible to see this debt forgiven,” Senator Pocock said.

“From opposition, Senator Gallgher called on the former government to forgive the ACT’s historic housing debt; it is really disappointing that now in government she is ruling out doing so.

“It was a federal Labor government that forgave the bulk of South Australia’s historic housing debt back in 2013, a far more sizeable $320 million payment than the $102 million I am asking for.

“As Senator Gallagher knows, the ACT has one of the smallest revenue bases but also the highest rental costs in the country. If the government is serious about increasing the supply of social and affordable housing then forgiving this debt is a very sensible first step.”

Furthermore, Senator Pocock added his voice to those questioning how the federal government can afford the $243 billion in stage 3 tax cuts but cannot afford to wipe the ACT’s $102 million housing debt.

“This looks like a government choosing to let people sleep in cars while planning to give tax cuts to politicians and other wealthy Australians,” he said.

“We need to treat housing as the crisis it is and act now. If the government is serious about building more social and affordable housing, then wiping the ACT’s housing debt is sensible.

“If the federal government allocates the promised 30,000 new dwellings being built in five years under the Housing Australia Future Fund on a per capita basis, the ACT will get 540 new social and affordable homes. Averaged out, that is 108 homes per year when the current shortfall stands at over 3,100.”

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