❓ Mr. Millman asks about the affordability impact of the Pier Street housing project. The Minister responds by highlighting the government's commitment to addressing housing challenges and detailing the project's social and affordable housing components, while criticizing the opposition's record.
AnsweredQoN 60Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOUSING — BUILD-TO-RENT— PIER STREET
60. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Minister for Housing:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
commitment to delivering more affordable housing to Western Australians.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how the delivery of more than 200 new apartments
on Pier Street in Perth will create more affordable housing opportunities for
more Western Australians?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how these homes will support people in need,
including older women at risk of homelessness?
60. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Minister for Housing:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
commitment to delivering more affordable housing to Western Australians.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how the delivery of more than 200 new apartments
on Pier Street in Perth will create more affordable housing opportunities for
more Western Australians?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how these homes will support people in need,
including older women at risk of homelessness?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for his question and his genuine commitment to helping to
provide housing to the most vulnerable people in Western Australia.
As
I have said repeatedly in this chamber, we face extraordinary times. It has
been called the perfect storm whereby COVID has radically reshaped our
housing markets and placed enormous pressure on our rental markets. I want to
assure Western Australians that we take this issue very seriously and every day
we are looking at and implementing a range of reforms to drive housing supply.
Housing supply is the answer to the
rental market challenges. Of course, I have previously talked in this chamber
about the huge number of both immediate, medium and long-term changes and
reforms that we are driving. One of those is the signature announcement that we
made today with the federal government. This
was a big milestone development. The Premier and I joined the federal Minister
for Housing and the Prime Minister to announce the funding of the
largest affordable and social housing build-to-rent development in Western Australia.
This will be a huge delivery and boost for the rental market. There will be 219
apartments with around half for affordable and social housing; of those, 66
apartments will be social and 44, or 20 per cent, will be affordable. This is
critically important. They will be close to public transport, in the heart of
the city, and provide critical housing to some of our most vulnerable Western Australians.
This model is different because the
state will build the development and then hand over the keys to Housing Choices
to run this high-density apartment block. That land is lazy land, or surplus
land, and is part of our housing diversity pipeline, so it is all coming
together. These types of projects are complex. They are the largest of their
type. Locking in a housing provider takes time, but we are getting on with the
job. This kind of project demonstrates the serious commitment by our state
government and the federal government, which is in contrast to the previous
Liberal state and federal governments. As we know, the previous Liberal federal
government spent nothing. There were no housing funds, no social accelerator
funds, and it completely cut funding to remote communities. We then had the
state Liberal government which, basically, for years —
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
Mr J.N. CAREY : I know the
member gets agitated about housing. I understand that because she had no
policies, and I know that is embarrassing.
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
Mr J.N. CAREY : We can see that
the Leader of the Liberal Party is very sensitive about this topic because the
Liberals' record was based on the massive stimulus package from Kevin
Rudd. Now, after seven years, we have a Leader of the Liberal Party who stands
here with not one policy solution. I might have given her a few years, but I would
think that after seven years the Liberal leader would have something of
substance to say.
Members opposite are very agitated.
Several members interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Members!
Mr J.N. CAREY : They are very
sensitive because they have no policy. They are asleep at the wheel. If we look at their Liberal candidates, we see that
they are actually venomous against social housing delivery. We look forward to them joining the opposition team! Those wonderful Liberal candidates oppose
homelessness and social housing. That is the new Liberal Party embracing social
housing. There is a very clear difference between this side, which is
delivering substantial policy measures to boost housing supply, and an
opposition that after seven years has not one policy or answer to meet the
challenges of our current housing market.
thank the member for his question and his genuine commitment to helping to
provide housing to the most vulnerable people in Western Australia.
As
I have said repeatedly in this chamber, we face extraordinary times. It has
been called the perfect storm whereby COVID has radically reshaped our
housing markets and placed enormous pressure on our rental markets. I want to
assure Western Australians that we take this issue very seriously and every day
we are looking at and implementing a range of reforms to drive housing supply.
Housing supply is the answer to the
rental market challenges. Of course, I have previously talked in this chamber
about the huge number of both immediate, medium and long-term changes and
reforms that we are driving. One of those is the signature announcement that we
made today with the federal government. This
was a big milestone development. The Premier and I joined the federal Minister
for Housing and the Prime Minister to announce the funding of the
largest affordable and social housing build-to-rent development in Western Australia.
This will be a huge delivery and boost for the rental market. There will be 219
apartments with around half for affordable and social housing; of those, 66
apartments will be social and 44, or 20 per cent, will be affordable. This is
critically important. They will be close to public transport, in the heart of
the city, and provide critical housing to some of our most vulnerable Western Australians.
This model is different because the
state will build the development and then hand over the keys to Housing Choices
to run this high-density apartment block. That land is lazy land, or surplus
land, and is part of our housing diversity pipeline, so it is all coming
together. These types of projects are complex. They are the largest of their
type. Locking in a housing provider takes time, but we are getting on with the
job. This kind of project demonstrates the serious commitment by our state
government and the federal government, which is in contrast to the previous
Liberal state and federal governments. As we know, the previous Liberal federal
government spent nothing. There were no housing funds, no social accelerator
funds, and it completely cut funding to remote communities. We then had the
state Liberal government which, basically, for years —
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
Mr J.N. CAREY : I know the
member gets agitated about housing. I understand that because she had no
policies, and I know that is embarrassing.
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
Mr J.N. CAREY : We can see that
the Leader of the Liberal Party is very sensitive about this topic because the
Liberals' record was based on the massive stimulus package from Kevin
Rudd. Now, after seven years, we have a Leader of the Liberal Party who stands
here with not one policy solution. I might have given her a few years, but I would
think that after seven years the Liberal leader would have something of
substance to say.
Members opposite are very agitated.
Several members interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Members!
Mr J.N. CAREY : They are very
sensitive because they have no policy. They are asleep at the wheel. If we look at their Liberal candidates, we see that
they are actually venomous against social housing delivery. We look forward to them joining the opposition team! Those wonderful Liberal candidates oppose
homelessness and social housing. That is the new Liberal Party embracing social
housing. There is a very clear difference between this side, which is
delivering substantial policy measures to boost housing supply, and an
opposition that after seven years has not one policy or answer to meet the
challenges of our current housing market.
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