❓ Dr. Honey questions the Premier about high-rise developments in Claremont and their impact on affordability, accusing the government of misleading the public. The Premier defends the government's housing strategy, emphasizing diversity and market demand.
AnsweredQoN 443Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
RENTAL ACCOMMODATION — AFFORDABILITY
443. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I refer to a question I asked the
Premier last Thursday on the high cost of rental apartments and the
inappropriate focus by the Cook Labor government on high-rise developments in
my electorate.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order!
Dr D.J. HONEY : The Premier
ridiculed my concerns and compared my electorate with Cannington.
(1) Given that 28 per cent of
housing in the Town of Claremont comprises units and apartments —
Ms J.J. Shaw interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Swan
Hills, that is disorderly.
Dr D.J. HONEY : I repeat —
Given
that 28 per cent of housing in the Town of Claremont comprises units and
apartments and that only 8.5 per cent of the City of Cannington
comprises units and apartments, why does the Premier continue to mislead the
public about the disproportionate and substantial impact of high-rise
development in the western suburbs?
(2) Why does the
government continue to focus on —
Mr T. Healy interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Southern River! The number of
interjections on this question is totally unacceptable. People should be able
to ask a question in this house and get a response from the relevant minister
or Premier without incessant interjections.
Dr D.J. HONEY : I repeat —
Why does the government continue to
focus on destroying the amenity of the western suburbs with inappropriate
high-rise developments in ordinary suburban streets rather than providing more
affordable developments in other suburbs?
Mrs J.M.C. Stojkovski : Nimby.
The SPEAKER : I know that was
you, member for Kingsley. The Premier in response.
443. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I refer to a question I asked the
Premier last Thursday on the high cost of rental apartments and the
inappropriate focus by the Cook Labor government on high-rise developments in
my electorate.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order!
Dr D.J. HONEY : The Premier
ridiculed my concerns and compared my electorate with Cannington.
(1) Given that 28 per cent of
housing in the Town of Claremont comprises units and apartments —
Ms J.J. Shaw interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Swan
Hills, that is disorderly.
Dr D.J. HONEY : I repeat —
Given
that 28 per cent of housing in the Town of Claremont comprises units and
apartments and that only 8.5 per cent of the City of Cannington
comprises units and apartments, why does the Premier continue to mislead the
public about the disproportionate and substantial impact of high-rise
development in the western suburbs?
(2) Why does the
government continue to focus on —
Mr T. Healy interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Southern River! The number of
interjections on this question is totally unacceptable. People should be able
to ask a question in this house and get a response from the relevant minister
or Premier without incessant interjections.
Dr D.J. HONEY : I repeat —
Why does the government continue to
focus on destroying the amenity of the western suburbs with inappropriate
high-rise developments in ordinary suburban streets rather than providing more
affordable developments in other suburbs?
Mrs J.M.C. Stojkovski : Nimby.
The SPEAKER : I know that was
you, member for Kingsley. The Premier in response.
AnswerView source ↗
Thank you, Madam Speaker. As you
observed, this is probably the last question of question time before the winter
break. I wish everyone a great break over the winter period and remind everyone
to have a break. We need you to come back full of energy and life.
(1)–(2) I
can assure the member for Cottesloe that there was no reluctance on my part to
answer his question recently about housing in his electorate. My difficulty in
answering it was that I was not sure what the member
was asking because it was such a confused jumble of narratives and I was
unclear what he actually wanted me to
say, so let me be really clear: the Minister for Housing, and in his role as
Minister for Planning , is focused on
one thing and one thing only, and that is providing diversity in a vibrant
housing sector that will allow us to do two things. The first is to
provide people with the accommodation they desire and the second is to provide
them with the accommodation they need. That is what we are doing as part of our $2.6 billion strategy around homelessness and
housing to continue to make sure that we provide people with the
accommodation they need because we understand that housing is a crucial aspect
of relieving poverty and hardship in our community.� Earlier in question time,
the Minister for Housing provided an ample description of our policies and
their effectiveness.
The other thing we want to do is to
make sure that we provide a diversity of housing throughout the community, because not everyone wants to live on a
quarter-acre block or in a suburb that cannot be properly serviced by
public transport or other amenities, and not everyone aspires to owning a McMansion.
As we have seen to our great regret in
Perth, urban sprawl does not provide a solution for sustainable communities .
We need to make sure that we have a diversity of accommodation right across the
community—in the member for Cottesloe's electorate and in my
electorate. The member has an inner-city electorate whereas mine is an
outer-urban electorate. Even there, particularly around the train stations,
property developers are developing appropriate accommodation that includes
medium to high-density housing, because that is what we do around those nodes.
The member's electorate is closer to the city. It is not surprising
that a lot of people in his electorate are voting with their feet and buying
those places. They want to live in that sort of accommodation. I never thought
that I would be on my feet in this place explaining to the Liberal Party that this is called the market.
There is demand for a diversity of housing product and the market is
providing a diverse supply of housing product. That is the way it should be. We
want to continue to support that process.
observed, this is probably the last question of question time before the winter
break. I wish everyone a great break over the winter period and remind everyone
to have a break. We need you to come back full of energy and life.
(1)–(2) I
can assure the member for Cottesloe that there was no reluctance on my part to
answer his question recently about housing in his electorate. My difficulty in
answering it was that I was not sure what the member
was asking because it was such a confused jumble of narratives and I was
unclear what he actually wanted me to
say, so let me be really clear: the Minister for Housing, and in his role as
Minister for Planning , is focused on
one thing and one thing only, and that is providing diversity in a vibrant
housing sector that will allow us to do two things. The first is to
provide people with the accommodation they desire and the second is to provide
them with the accommodation they need. That is what we are doing as part of our $2.6 billion strategy around homelessness and
housing to continue to make sure that we provide people with the
accommodation they need because we understand that housing is a crucial aspect
of relieving poverty and hardship in our community.� Earlier in question time,
the Minister for Housing provided an ample description of our policies and
their effectiveness.
The other thing we want to do is to
make sure that we provide a diversity of housing throughout the community, because not everyone wants to live on a
quarter-acre block or in a suburb that cannot be properly serviced by
public transport or other amenities, and not everyone aspires to owning a McMansion.
As we have seen to our great regret in
Perth, urban sprawl does not provide a solution for sustainable communities .
We need to make sure that we have a diversity of accommodation right across the
community—in the member for Cottesloe's electorate and in my
electorate. The member has an inner-city electorate whereas mine is an
outer-urban electorate. Even there, particularly around the train stations,
property developers are developing appropriate accommodation that includes
medium to high-density housing, because that is what we do around those nodes.
The member's electorate is closer to the city. It is not surprising
that a lot of people in his electorate are voting with their feet and buying
those places. They want to live in that sort of accommodation. I never thought
that I would be on my feet in this place explaining to the Liberal Party that this is called the market.
There is demand for a diversity of housing product and the market is
providing a diverse supply of housing product. That is the way it should be. We
want to continue to support that process.
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