Although not quite a "log cabin to White House" origin story, Mick Gentleman's defence of smaller homes is a timely reminder of how much community expectations have changed in recent years.
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The Planning Minister went into bat for the idea that less can be more at an ACT Legislative Assembly hearing on Tuesday after the opposition derided 120 square metre homes as inadequate for family living.
"How are young families who are already struggling with the ACT housing market meant to fit in what is essentially a 120 square-metre large granny flat?" opposition spokesperson for planning and land management, Peter Cain asked.
Mr Gentleman, a former postie and then security officer for Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, has always taken pride in his blue collar roots.
He said it was quite possible to raise a family in a home less than half the size of the current Canberra average of 259 square metres.
"My three children, my wife and I all sustained ourselves in 120 square-metre three-bedroom home in Calwell. It's a very enjoyable house, and my kids have grown up well," Mr Gentleman told the Assembly.
"In my early years of growing up in Canberra ... we grew up in an 80-square-metre house, a two-bedroom FCC [Federal Capital Commission] home in Reid."
The Chief Minister Andrew Barr told an earlier hearing he and his husband were quite comfortable living in a 120 square metre ex-govie with a "very large cat".
Mr Barr and Mr Gentleman were defending the government's controversial RZ1 dual occupancy policy.
Under the policy a second separately titled dwelling will be allowed on any block of more than 800 square metres. The size of the new dwellings has been capped at 120 square metres.
The changes have been vigorously opposed by residents of Canberra's leafy inner suburbs who fear infill development on a large scale will completely change the character of those neighbourhoods.
The government says the benefits well and truly outweigh any disadvantages. Canberra is suffering an acute housing shortage which has resulted in some of the highest rents in the country. The ACT is running out of developable land on the fringes and the turnaround times for green fields developments are measured in years.
Infill development taps into existing services and infrastructure. It can be turned around relatively quickly. It also gives people an opportunity to move into well established suburbs with a wide range of amenities and community facilities.
Such developments are seen as having particular appeal for young families and for downsizers.
While it would be too trite and easy to dismiss all of the objections as NIMBY-ism the government has a strong case.
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Canberra has, according to Commsec and other sources, the largest house sizes in the world.
With only 2.5 people per household according to the 2021 census and an average house size of almost 260 metres many Canberrans obviously like to sprawl.
Our average of 104 square metres per person is in stark contrast to cities such as Paris where the average household dwelling is 52 square metres, Moscow (45.5 square metres), Oslo (68 square metres) and Wellington, New Zealand (120 square metres).
While smaller homes won't appeal to everybody the ACT has not adopted a "one size fits all" approach.
Bigger homes can still be built on outer suburban blocks. The dual occupancy changes simply offer an attractive alternative which will be welcomed by many Canberrans.
