Housing costs push govt workers out of Gladstone
INFLATED housing costs have been blamed in Parliament for the Gladstone region's struggle to maintain public sector workers.
Gladstone MP Liz Cunningham called for the government to scrap plans to sell off housing in Mount Larcom.
"The high cost of rent and housing has regularly created problems in recruiting and retaining government employees in the Gladstone electorate," she said.
Housing Minister Tim Mander said the property in question was no longer needed by the Education Department.
"My understanding is that there is a house at Mount Larcom that actually is a social housing property that was leased by the Department of Education for a teacher at Mount Larcom," he said.
"Upon a request from the local accommodation committee from the Department of Education, it said that was no longer needed and sourced accommodation from Gladstone which it felt was, in this particular situation, more appropriate.
"I am led to believe that there are still two rooms available in multi-tenanted properties for any future need and it is important that that need is there.
"So it is a social housing property that is under-utilised and there is no demand for it."
-APN NEWSDESK
