❓ Mrs O'Malley asks about the progress and support for the Cook Labor government's planning reforms aimed at speeding up development and increasing housing supply. The Minister's response defends the reforms, criticises the Liberal Party's opposition, and accuses them of spreading misinformation.
AnsweredQoN 623Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Planning reforms
623. Mrs Lisa O'Malley to
the Minister for Planning and Lands:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's ongoing efforts to reform our planning
system.
(1) How are these reforms
speeding up development and delivering more housing in Western Australia?
(2) Is the minister aware of
anyone who does not support these reforms?
623. Mrs Lisa O'Malley to
the Minister for Planning and Lands:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's ongoing efforts to reform our planning
system.
(1) How are these reforms
speeding up development and delivering more housing in Western Australia?
(2) Is the minister aware of
anyone who does not support these reforms?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) As members know, we are tackling
the housing challenge and the pressures in the housing market head on. We are
focused on streamlining and cutting the regulations that get in the way of
delivering much-needed housing. We have nation-leading planning reforms to make
sure that our system is simpler and more efficient and transparent, allowing us
to cater for that extraordinary population growth. I note that the Grattan
Institute released a significant report titled More
homes, better cities: Letting more people live where they want . The
report highlights that even in Western Australia there is more work to do and
that 92% of Perth's residential land within 30 kilometres of the CBD allows for
only one or two storeys. The report talks about ensuring that we prioritise
broader housing needs over potential nimby voices. Our government understands
that there is more work to be done to enable infill density, and we are
undertaking a review of the R-codes.
I note that the reform in New
South Wales passed through the upper house with the bipartisan support of the
Labor and Liberal Parties. That is critical planning reform to enable transit-orientated
development. Unfortunately, we are not seeing that in Western Australia.
Instead, we see the Leader of the Liberal Party continuing
to drive a fear campaign to oppose housing and, of course, he has no housing
policy at all, let alone a social housing policy target. It is interesting
that in the debate on the State Development Bill, the leader of the Liberals
applauded former minister Hon John Day and his work on planning, yet what we
saw in the Floreat Forum debate was quite the opposite. The Leader of the
Opposition attacked proponents for putting forward a plan. The irony is that
mechanism was enabled by the former Liberal government. In fact, it was under
Hon John Day that a proponent was enabled to come forward with their own plan when
local governments failed to engage with the proponent. That was a Liberal–National
Party initiative that the leader of the Liberals is now attacking.
Worse than that, he has used
fake AI images to scare people about density—fake AI images. It is
extraordinary that at a time when we need more housing and we see bipartisan
support for planning reform in other states, here in Western Australia the
Leader of the Liberal Party is doing the opposite to the extent that in social
media he liked a post that referred to the corrupt planning regime. He then
deleted that once it was revealed and reported on in the media. We see from the
Liberal leader a complete lack of leadership on housing and planning matters.
The planning inquiry has yet to
make any submissions public and is yet to hold any open hearings yet two of its
members—Hon Neil Thomson and Hon Anthony Spagnolo—are posting
on Facebook posts, using the Liberal leader's page to drum up fear. That is
hardly an approach of going to an inquiry and being even handed when
considering all the matters before it.
What we are seeing on that side
by the WA Liberals is a deliberate and ongoing orchestrated campaign that is
about creating fear in the community, pushing false information and,
ironically, attacking its own government's planning reform legacy.
the housing challenge and the pressures in the housing market head on. We are
focused on streamlining and cutting the regulations that get in the way of
delivering much-needed housing. We have nation-leading planning reforms to make
sure that our system is simpler and more efficient and transparent, allowing us
to cater for that extraordinary population growth. I note that the Grattan
Institute released a significant report titled More
homes, better cities: Letting more people live where they want . The
report highlights that even in Western Australia there is more work to do and
that 92% of Perth's residential land within 30 kilometres of the CBD allows for
only one or two storeys. The report talks about ensuring that we prioritise
broader housing needs over potential nimby voices. Our government understands
that there is more work to be done to enable infill density, and we are
undertaking a review of the R-codes.
I note that the reform in New
South Wales passed through the upper house with the bipartisan support of the
Labor and Liberal Parties. That is critical planning reform to enable transit-orientated
development. Unfortunately, we are not seeing that in Western Australia.
Instead, we see the Leader of the Liberal Party continuing
to drive a fear campaign to oppose housing and, of course, he has no housing
policy at all, let alone a social housing policy target. It is interesting
that in the debate on the State Development Bill, the leader of the Liberals
applauded former minister Hon John Day and his work on planning, yet what we
saw in the Floreat Forum debate was quite the opposite. The Leader of the
Opposition attacked proponents for putting forward a plan. The irony is that
mechanism was enabled by the former Liberal government. In fact, it was under
Hon John Day that a proponent was enabled to come forward with their own plan when
local governments failed to engage with the proponent. That was a Liberal–National
Party initiative that the leader of the Liberals is now attacking.
Worse than that, he has used
fake AI images to scare people about density—fake AI images. It is
extraordinary that at a time when we need more housing and we see bipartisan
support for planning reform in other states, here in Western Australia the
Leader of the Liberal Party is doing the opposite to the extent that in social
media he liked a post that referred to the corrupt planning regime. He then
deleted that once it was revealed and reported on in the media. We see from the
Liberal leader a complete lack of leadership on housing and planning matters.
The planning inquiry has yet to
make any submissions public and is yet to hold any open hearings yet two of its
members—Hon Neil Thomson and Hon Anthony Spagnolo—are posting
on Facebook posts, using the Liberal leader's page to drum up fear. That is
hardly an approach of going to an inquiry and being even handed when
considering all the matters before it.
What we are seeing on that side
by the WA Liberals is a deliberate and ongoing orchestrated campaign that is
about creating fear in the community, pushing false information and,
ironically, attacking its own government's planning reform legacy.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.