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Canberra Today 25°/29° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Census shock prompts calls for more housing

WITH new data revealing a 20,000-person undercount of the ACT’s population, the Canberra Liberals are calling on the ACT government to release more land for housing.

Census data published this week showed the ACT’s population had grown to 454,499 people on the night of the 2021 census, up 14.4 per cent from the last count in 2016.

The figure was about 21,000 more than the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ estimate for the ACT’s resident population as of June last year.

Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee says the new figures highlight the need for more land to be released across the capital.

“The Labor-Greens government is planning to release just 4,171 blocks in the next five years at an average of 834 a year, which is inadequate before factoring in the 20,000 extra people,” Ms Lee says.

“We know the government is deliberately constraining the release of land in the ACT and they also have a history of not of not delivering and failing to meet their low targets.”

Ms Lee pointed to a recent land ballot at Macnamara where more than 7400 applications we made for just 51 blocks of land.

In February, 12,417 applicants were made for 101 blocks in Whitlam, she says.

“This clearly indicates the balance is not right and Canberrans are not being given a choice when it comes to housing options,” Ms Lee says.

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