Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has moved to dispel expectations the ACT's public housing debt would be waived in this week's federal budget.
Senator Gallagher has faced repeated calls to cancel the multimillion-dollar debt. While the federal government's opposition to a waiver appeared to soften, the senator for the ACT made it clear the budget would not cancel the debt.
"I made it clear that we will be making extra investments in housing in the ACT. Obviously, we remain in discussions with the ACT government about how to allocate that. But it's much more in space of extra support through the agreement reached by the Prime Minister on Friday afternoon, with state and territory leaders," Senator Gallagher said on Sunday.
The ACT government has repeatedly called on the Commonwealth to waive the debt and Chief Minister Andrew Barr has said the territory would invest the savings into social housing.
The ACT Greens have renewed their calls for the housing debt to be waived in Tuesday's federal budget, which the party says should also include changes to tax breaks offered to property investors, such as negative gearing.
"To put it into perspective, the federal government is paying $368 billion for nuclear submarines, but they refuse to waive $82 million we could be using to give Canberrans a safe place to sleep," Rebecca Vassarotti, the Greens' housing spokeswoman, said.
"Canberrans are right to feel let down by Labor, who have the power to waive this debt, as they've done in Tasmania and South Australia."
David Pocock, the independent senator for the ACT, has also called for the debt to be waived, releasing a 52-page pre-budget submission he sent to the federal government outlining his budget wish list.
"Given the particularly dire housing situation faced by the ACT, I also re-state the case for the Australian Government to forgive the ACT's historic housing debt so as to free up ACT government resources for additional housing investment," Senator Pocock said in his submission.
"This is in line with what has happened in South Australia and Tasmania and recognising the ACT's much lower revenue raising capacity. It is a key concern for ACT residents, with only 12 per cent of my pre-budget priorities survey respondents describing it as not important for the Commonwealth to wipe the ACT's historic housing debt."
The ACT still owed the Commonwealth $81.6 million at June 30, 2023, with another $24.4 million in interest payable over the remaining loan period to 2042. The debt was inherited by the ACT when the territory was granted self government in 1989.
