The ACT government would be keen to buy part of an agricultural testing station from the Commonwealth for housing development in the capital's north-west if a re-elected Coalition government rushed it onto the market.
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But the Liberals have ruled out selling the land to the ACT government, and have indicated they would sell the site to a private developer without first committing to an open tender process.
The territory government also expressed concern there was not enough capacity in the private market to immediately begin building housing on the large site.
Liberal senator Zed Seselja on Wednesday announced the Coalition would sell a third of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation's Ginninderra testing station to boost available land for housing in the ACT, which the senator argued had been constrained by the ACT government.
Senator Seselja said there would be a strong bias towards providing family-sized homes, and there was still work underway to determine how the sale process would work.
"Importantly it will be released to the private sector, not to the ACT government, and the reason for that is because, if we were to release it to the government, my fear is that they would land bank it in the same that they are land banking so much land around the territory and we wouldn't achieve our ends," Senator Seselja said.
Senator Seselja said he believed there was strong private-sector interest in the site, and planning processes under the National Capital Authority would streamline the process.
An ACT government spokeswoman, however, said the territory would have a strong interest in acquiring the site, depending on the terms and conditions for the sale.
"The ACT would be committed to bringing forward housing for sale as quickly as possible, with a focus on meeting community needs, providing affordable housing options, and delivering fantastic new neighbourhoods," the spokeswoman said.
"It is unclear if the private market would have the capacity to deliver housing in the next five to 10 years, and it is highly unlikely that a private developer would have a focus on providing affordable housing needs."
The Canberra Times understands it could take up to five years to ready the land for sale as individual blocks for housing development.
The ACT government said the announcement was not ground-breaking, and noted it had been working with the Commonwealth for a number of years on the sale of the site.
"A number of ACT government directorates have been providing advice to CSIRO on development impacts and a number of planning and infrastructure matters. These include school provision, road network impacts, environmental management, and processes around its potential conversion from National Land to Territory Land," the spokeswoman said.
"This 'announcement' with a level of detail we've come to expect from the federal government is unsurprising and emblematic of a tired Liberal senator with no real plan for the ACT."
ACT government planning officials have been providing advice to the CSIRO about developing the site, including advice on infrastructure requirements for the site.
The ACT government said if Senator Seselja was serious about increasing the availability of affordable housing in the ACT, he would be advocating for the Commonwealth to wipe the territory's historical housing debt to the Commonwealth.
"The previous Liberal government made a deal with Tasmania to wipe their historic housing debt, and it's only reasonable for the Senator to be fighting for the same deal for the ACT," the spokeswoman said.
Last month the Senator Seselja said he was lobbying his Liberal ministerial colleagues to decide on the 701 hectares of CSIRO land that has long been part of a stalled joint-venture redevelopment project with the ACT government.
The earmarked land has already been identified as suitable for development without legislative changes, which could mean around 2000 new dwellings or housing for around 4500 people, based on the average block size in Canberra.
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"If elected the Morrison government will put this land onto the market before the end of 2022, with the intent that its future use for family housing will best serve the Canberra community," Senator Seselja said in an earlier statement.
"Canberrans are facing a housing crisis caused by the ACT Labor-Greens government's deliberate strategy to limit supply of new land for housing and to predominantly favour apartments over family blocks."
Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee on Wednesday sidestepped a question of whether she would be happy for the federal government to overlook the ACT government in developing the land at a potential financial cost to the territory if she were the chief minister.
"The fact is that the ACT Labor-Greens government has clearly demonstrated they have no willingness and no desire to release land. In fact, I welcome the announcement that's been made by Senator Seselja and the Liberal National government," Ms Lee said.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has previously warned that "significant community backlash" would follow from National Capital Authority decisions to rezone land such as the Ginninderra site rapidly with little opportunity for planning and community consultation.
The land - part of a 701-hectare site between Belconnen and the Barton Highway - is owned by the CSIRO, which identified the property was under utilised a decade ago. It was rezoned in 2016 as "urban".
Mr Barr in 2016 criticised the decision to rezone the land, saying at the time the development was being used by the CSIRO to prop up its finances.
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