The controversial sale of heritage-listed public housing at Miller’s Point on Sydney harbour has brought in nearly $450 million for the government, the inquiry heard. But nearly half, or about 140 properties, are yet to be placed on the market according to the latest government figures.
With total government property holdings estimated at about $140 billion, the Coalition’s total planned sell-off represents about 7 per cent of the government’s property assets.
The figures include some 4000 sales of property owned by the Department of Family and Community Services, money that the department has committed to spend on building new social housing.
But the government has also sold off 384 Department of Education properties since taking power, properties that Finance Minister Victor Dominello said were deemed by the department to be “surplus”.
That is despite reports that the state government is facing a massive, $10.8 billion backlog in school maintenance and a demographic explosion in student numbers.
“I cannot sit here and give you a guarantee that the Department of Education may not need to buy back any asset the government has [sold],” Mr Newman said. “But the government looks to recycle under-utilised sites and [buy new ones]”.
The state opposition said NSW residents believe the state government’s privatisation push had gone “too far”.
“They will stop at nothing before every corner of this state has been sold off to the highest bidder,” said shadow treasurer Ryan Park.
But Mr Dominello said: “The proceeds from these transactions provide us with billions of dollars of funding which is invested in critical public infrastructure across the state, such as schools, hospitals and roads.”
Since the Coalition took power “asset recycling” has also extended to the sale or long-term lease of publicly owned assets including the state’s ports, “poles and wires” and its land titles registry which have reached a combined value of $53 billion, according to parliamentary library research published earlier this year.