THE Coalition has slammed a $115 million Labor-era scheme to increase the supply of affordable homes in regional cities as a “pork-barrelling exercise’’, after it emerged just 247 of 8000 promised dwellings had been delivered at more than triple their estimated cost. It also has been revealed two of five infrastructure projects to receive ministerial approval in May 2012 against departmental advice were in then independent Tony Windsor’s electorate of New England and Dobell, held at the time by former Labor MP Craig Thomson. Both MPs were crucial to propping up the minority Gillard government. Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews said yesterday the Building Better Regional Cities program was “the essence of incompetence and partisan pork-barrelling’’. He said former housing minister Brendan O’Connor “cherry-picked programs that fitted in with his political agenda, with complete disregard for the advice of his department, which said that most applications were lacking in merit or did not provide value for money’’. An opposition spokesman said last night Labor was proud of its record in improving regional housing. Julia Gillard launched the scheme on the first day of the 2010 election campaign. It was designed to provide infrastructure grants to councils to help support the delivery of up to 8000 homes and reduce housing stress in capital cities. theaustralian.au/national-affairs/high-price-for-cheap-homes/story-fn59niix-1226968242103
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 00:08:12 +0000
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