Making great Aussie dream come true
07.12.2010



By: Tony Koch, Sarah Elks

HOUSING would be revalued to offset the cost of building in remote Aboriginal communities under a fresh government bid to make the great Australian dream of home ownership achievable for indigenous people.
The Queensland government initiative, to be released today, also proposes staggered mortgages to encourage Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders to
buy rather than rent their homes.
The discussion paper details how Aboriginal community councils, which own much of the existing housing, would use actual value rather than replacement cost as the yardstick when selling.
A case study cites an indigenous couple with a joint income of $110,000 a year paying $1230 a month for the first 12 years before dropping to $480.
It has been impossible to get a bank to support a house purchase because of the unclear tenure in indigenous communities and the lack of security on houses that cost more than $400,000 to build because of high transport and other remote area costs.
However, in Queensland, indigenous councils can now grant 99-year leases on house blocks -- similar to the leaseholds in the ACT.
Queensland Housing Minister Karen Struthers said her department had valued houses in indigenous communities at between $80,000 and $150,000 against similar properties in nearby communities.
Percy Neal, the Mayor of Yarrabah Council, near Cairns, said home ownership was imperative for his people, and some had been waiting for almost 20 years to sort out land tenure so they could arrange to have a home built.
Any positive news about the possibility of home ownership is welcomed by Yarrabah locals Les and Petrina Bassani and their five children, who have their eye on a block on a new housing estate on the picturesque coastal community.
Les, 41, is a boilermaker and Petrina is a finance officer with the Gurriny Yealamucka health service. They rent a four-bedroom house for $85 a week.
``We are excited by the 99-year lease situation, and are desperate to get into our own home so that eventually we can leave something for our children,'' Mrs Bassani said.
``The land, which the council is providing, will cost about $20,000 and our final commitment depends on how much it costs to build the house we want, but it will be around $200,000, we expect.''