Debates Day 1 - Tuesday 23 May 1995
Parliamentary Record 11
Debates for 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997
1995-05-23
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
English
Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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https://hdl.handle.net/10070/281694
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DEBATES - Tuesday 23 May 1995 Librarys own collections. An amount of $2.78m will be made available in operational grants and subsidies to local governing authorities providing public library services. It is worth noting that 20 of these authorities are either community government councils or incorporated associations. In 1995-96, $300 000 will be spent on maintaining the current level of information technology available to libraries in the Territory. The Department of Lands, Housing and Local Government generates a significant amount of revenue for the government. In 1995-96, $23.7m is expected from Territory resources, an increase of $10. lm in total. For operating revenue, the department estimates $13.7m from Territory sources and $50.7m from Commonwealth sources. Important revenue components from the departments business activities are: $23.3m from land sales and land rents; $400 000 from fees; in operating revenue, $2m in building rents and rents from departmental housing in remote communities; $1.5m from charges for products and services; and $ 10.2m in administration fees. I turn now to the very important Housing Commission side of my portfolio responsibilities. This government continues to place a high priority on strategies for home ownership. Through the HomeNorth Loans and Mortgage Transfers Program, a further $13.6m has been made available in 1995-96 for new loans under the HomeNorth portfolio of loan schemes. Since this initiative was introduced in 1991-92, a total of 775 Easy Start loans have been issued, valued at $51.5m. This highlights the success of the scheme and the steady progress being made towards achieving the governments objective of increasing Territory home ownership to national benchmark levels. This government caters also for existing borrowers who wish to purchase, trade up or simply change their housing through a transfer-of-mortgage policy. In essence, this is cost neutral but, in a budgetary sense, it adds $2m to this programs expenditure and a similar amount to the principal and interest receipts. Approximately 50 Territorians are expected to utilise this mechanism in 1995-96. Over $5m in other home ownership assistance is made available through the Home Support and Assistance Subsidies Program managed also by the Housing Commission. Territorians purchasing their first home in the Territory continue to receive an exemption from paying stamp duty on the property transfer. It is anticipated that approximately 1850 such transactions will qualify for this exemption in 1995-96, at a cost of $3.7m. A total of about 400 Territorians are expected to receive payments of between $1000 and $3000 in 1995-96 through the HomeNorth Early Start Deposit Assistance Scheme, totalling in all $790 000. Territorians are continuing to benefit from payments under the Interest Subsidy Scheme. A modified scheme was introduced in March 1994 to further assist Territorians in their quest for home ownership. To cater for existing and new recipients, $360 000 has been allowed for this scheme in 1995-96. In summary, home ownership opportunities for all Territorians remain a high priority for this government. Due to the activity in the home cash sales area, the government has been able to maintain a prudent level of construction for the general public housing program. Within the housing and development program, a new program commitment of $8.52m and a cash allocation of $ 10m have been approved. The new program will provide for: urban renewal development works in the Gap area of Alice Springs -$ lm ; 3 units of accommodation in Darwin and Palmerston, at an estimated cost of $300 000; the construction, renovation and replacement of accommodation in minor and remote communities - $4.15m; community crisis 3493