❓ A WA parliamentary question regarding the Cook Labor government's investment in social housing and homelessness measures. The Minister defends the government's initiatives against criticism from the opposition, highlighting a lack of alternative policies.
AnsweredQoN 470Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SOCIAL HOUSING — HOMELESSNESS
470. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Minister for Housing:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's record $2.6 billion investment in
social housing and homelessness measures in Western Australia. Can the
minister advise the house of the steps being taken by this government to
bolster the delivery of 4 000 social homes across the state, and can the
minister advise the house if he is aware of anyone who is not supportive of
these initiatives to deliver more homes as quickly as possible?
470. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Minister for Housing:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's record $2.6 billion investment in
social housing and homelessness measures in Western Australia. Can the
minister advise the house of the steps being taken by this government to
bolster the delivery of 4 000 social homes across the state, and can the
minister advise the house if he is aware of anyone who is not supportive of
these initiatives to deliver more homes as quickly as possible?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for his question.
He is right: our government is making an incredible investment of $2.6 billion
over four years in social housing and homelessness programs. We recently
announced another initiative to help boost social housing supply. All the
advice now from builders and the sector is that we are seeing some tapering in
housing capacity; that is, cost escalations are starting to decline. CoreLogic
key data shows that cost escalations are at
the lowest for Australia since September 2020. In fact, Western Australia is at
one of the lows at 0.5 per cent . That is why I announced a call for
submissions process that asked for any interested builders to come forward with
ideas and proposals, including—this is critical—asking for
development-ready projects; namely, projects that may have had development
applications approved with land that perhaps did not proceed because of market
conditions the state could adopt, recognising— this is the reality—that
60 to 70 per cent of apartment dwellings that had been approved post COVID have
not been built. That is the reality we face. We want to encourage builders to
come forward, but particularly those who already have projects ready or have
been approved that the state could adopt. That is what we are trying to do. We
are trying to think outside the box.
Industry
welcomes it. The community housing sector welcomes it. One person says no. As
members can guess, they are a WA Liberal— Hon Steve Martin . He said, I quote,
and I kid you not, ''They're out of ideas.'' Therefore, I
thought I would very quickly go through all the ideas that we have done.
We have invested $2.6 billion for 4 000 homes. We are increasing flexibility with timber frame, modular and prefabs and
spot purchasing. We have developed new procurement processes to make it
easier for builders. We have made approvals for public and community housing
quicker, with a huge funding boost for the spot purchasing program. We are
reviewing and converting government regional officer housing, unlocking lazy
land and applying planning reforms to streamline housing supply. We are
investing $150 million in grants for community housing and a range of
significant projects like Subiaco East. We are
investing in regional housing through the remote communities fund. We have
created a new supported landlords model to tackle homelessness and
established Boorloo Bidee Mia and Murray Street Lodge and new coordinating
rough sleeper groups for better referrals. We have boosted homeless outreach to
seven days a week and extended it to Midland
and Joondalup. There is a new $80 million infrastructure fund. Those are just
some of the ideas. I need a cigarette, and I do not even smoke!
I am really interested in comparing
that with the opposition. Interestingly, a conversation captured this very
well. I have just listed all those ideas,
and what have the Liberals and Nationals offered? Nothing. In fact, on ABC
morning radio, according to my notes, this was the question asked by
Nadia —
But do you have some ideas, Steve
Martin, I appreciate what you're saying, but I mean�
He said —
Nadia, I would love to be in a position
where I could pull the levers of Government. We're in Opposition. It's
not my job.
It
is not his job to create one policy to take to the next election! Not one
policy! This group has now been in opposition for six and a half years
and it has not put forward one social housing policy—not at the last
election and not now, and when tested on ABC radio, Hon Steve Martin said, ''It's
not my job.'' He is happy to criticise the whole list of reforms and
ideas that we are driving every day. There is a clear difference between that
side and this side. Do members know what? The housing industry —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
Mr J.N. CAREY : They love to
interject.
The housing industry knows this. It
has the opposition's measure. The community housing sector knows this.
It knows that the opposition is a policy vacuum on social housing in Western Australia.
He is right: our government is making an incredible investment of $2.6 billion
over four years in social housing and homelessness programs. We recently
announced another initiative to help boost social housing supply. All the
advice now from builders and the sector is that we are seeing some tapering in
housing capacity; that is, cost escalations are starting to decline. CoreLogic
key data shows that cost escalations are at
the lowest for Australia since September 2020. In fact, Western Australia is at
one of the lows at 0.5 per cent . That is why I announced a call for
submissions process that asked for any interested builders to come forward with
ideas and proposals, including—this is critical—asking for
development-ready projects; namely, projects that may have had development
applications approved with land that perhaps did not proceed because of market
conditions the state could adopt, recognising— this is the reality—that
60 to 70 per cent of apartment dwellings that had been approved post COVID have
not been built. That is the reality we face. We want to encourage builders to
come forward, but particularly those who already have projects ready or have
been approved that the state could adopt. That is what we are trying to do. We
are trying to think outside the box.
Industry
welcomes it. The community housing sector welcomes it. One person says no. As
members can guess, they are a WA Liberal— Hon Steve Martin . He said, I quote,
and I kid you not, ''They're out of ideas.'' Therefore, I
thought I would very quickly go through all the ideas that we have done.
We have invested $2.6 billion for 4 000 homes. We are increasing flexibility with timber frame, modular and prefabs and
spot purchasing. We have developed new procurement processes to make it
easier for builders. We have made approvals for public and community housing
quicker, with a huge funding boost for the spot purchasing program. We are
reviewing and converting government regional officer housing, unlocking lazy
land and applying planning reforms to streamline housing supply. We are
investing $150 million in grants for community housing and a range of
significant projects like Subiaco East. We are
investing in regional housing through the remote communities fund. We have
created a new supported landlords model to tackle homelessness and
established Boorloo Bidee Mia and Murray Street Lodge and new coordinating
rough sleeper groups for better referrals. We have boosted homeless outreach to
seven days a week and extended it to Midland
and Joondalup. There is a new $80 million infrastructure fund. Those are just
some of the ideas. I need a cigarette, and I do not even smoke!
I am really interested in comparing
that with the opposition. Interestingly, a conversation captured this very
well. I have just listed all those ideas,
and what have the Liberals and Nationals offered? Nothing. In fact, on ABC
morning radio, according to my notes, this was the question asked by
Nadia —
But do you have some ideas, Steve
Martin, I appreciate what you're saying, but I mean�
He said —
Nadia, I would love to be in a position
where I could pull the levers of Government. We're in Opposition. It's
not my job.
It
is not his job to create one policy to take to the next election! Not one
policy! This group has now been in opposition for six and a half years
and it has not put forward one social housing policy—not at the last
election and not now, and when tested on ABC radio, Hon Steve Martin said, ''It's
not my job.'' He is happy to criticise the whole list of reforms and
ideas that we are driving every day. There is a clear difference between that
side and this side. Do members know what? The housing industry —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
Mr J.N. CAREY : They love to
interject.
The housing industry knows this. It
has the opposition's measure. The community housing sector knows this.
It knows that the opposition is a policy vacuum on social housing in Western Australia.
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.