❓ Mrs. O'Malley asks about the Cook government's housing initiatives, particularly regarding boosting housing delivery and innovative construction methods. The Minister responds by highlighting the government's investment, progress, and contrasts it with the opposition's lack of housing policy.
AnsweredQoN 148Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOMELESSNESS
— INITIATIVES
148. Mrs L.M. O'MALLEY to the Minister for Housing:
I refer to the Cook government's record $2.6 billion
investment in housing and homelessness initiatives.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how the Cook Labor government is boosting housing
delivery across the state, including in the recent announcement to deliver 16
new houses in Coolbellup?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how this government is using innovative construction
methods to boost local housing supply?
— INITIATIVES
148. Mrs L.M. O'MALLEY to the Minister for Housing:
I refer to the Cook government's record $2.6 billion
investment in housing and homelessness initiatives.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how the Cook Labor government is boosting housing
delivery across the state, including in the recent announcement to deliver 16
new houses in Coolbellup?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how this government is using innovative construction
methods to boost local housing supply?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I want to thank the member for her question
and her commitment to social housing in her local community . As I am on
the record as saying, and as the Premier has talked about, the COVID-19
pandemic radically reshaped our housing
market. As a government, we are deeply cognisant of the range of pressures that
every state faces in relation to rental markets, the pressures on
renters and also the pressures on the construction market. As the member said, as a state, we are making a record
investment—$2.6 billion over four years to deliver 4 000 homes. In the
toughest construction market to date, we have delivered more than 1 900 homes since
the announcement of that record investment. As minister, I have made it very
clear that we are ambitiously pursuing a range
of different reforms and measures to accelerate the delivery of social housing .
One that I have talked about and announced previously in this place is an open
call for submissions process. In effect,
what it says is that we are open to business and we are prepared to think
outside the box . Whether it is the private sector, the not-for-profit
sector or the community housing sector, they can come to us with their ideas
and projects. Is it a development application that has land but has stalled due
to a lack of private investment? Is it
another project that could perhaps already be underway? That is what has occurred with the Coolbellup project, which is being done with the federal
government with accelerated procurement. We
are using social housing accelerator funds to get social housing out the door.
This is an $8.39 million investment from that accelerator fund and through our
new procurement process for 16 two-bedroom, one-bathroom silver-rated
liveable housing units, all with waterwise features and fittings and waterwise
gardens, and close to public transport. It is a great social housing project
and a key demonstration of how our procurement reforms are working.
We have to contrast that with the
approach of the opposition. We know that Hon Steve Martin and the Leader of the Liberal Party have no housing
policy. They have not one social housing policy, not one planning reform
policy, not one housing infrastructure policy—zero; nothing. It is
interesting, because the leader is going out and making other policy statements.
Hon Steve Martin was tested by a journalist recently, when he became the deputy
leader in that chain of different leaderships. When he was asked where the
Liberal Party's policies were, I kid you not, he actually said —
� it was ''not appropriate''
for the Opposition to be announcing policy positions more than a year out from
an election.
Basically,
he was saying that they have no policy. Bizarrely, today we saw the Liberals
make a commitment to overturn the ban on uranium mining. In October,
after ignoring all the critical advice, the Liberal Party pushed ahead with a commitment
to a women's and babies' hospital in Nedlands. It has committed
to deregulated shopping hours, which would help to ruin small businesses, but
when it comes to housing, apparently the Liberal leadership believes that it is
not necessary to have any housing policy. On top of that, they oppose
everything. They oppose granny flat reforms. They oppose spot-purchasing
programs. They oppose short-term rental incentives. They oppose protection for
renters. The question is: what do they stand for when it comes to social
housing, when it comes to planning, when it comes to homelessness and when it
comes to housing supply?
and her commitment to social housing in her local community . As I am on
the record as saying, and as the Premier has talked about, the COVID-19
pandemic radically reshaped our housing
market. As a government, we are deeply cognisant of the range of pressures that
every state faces in relation to rental markets, the pressures on
renters and also the pressures on the construction market. As the member said, as a state, we are making a record
investment—$2.6 billion over four years to deliver 4 000 homes. In the
toughest construction market to date, we have delivered more than 1 900 homes since
the announcement of that record investment. As minister, I have made it very
clear that we are ambitiously pursuing a range
of different reforms and measures to accelerate the delivery of social housing .
One that I have talked about and announced previously in this place is an open
call for submissions process. In effect,
what it says is that we are open to business and we are prepared to think
outside the box . Whether it is the private sector, the not-for-profit
sector or the community housing sector, they can come to us with their ideas
and projects. Is it a development application that has land but has stalled due
to a lack of private investment? Is it
another project that could perhaps already be underway? That is what has occurred with the Coolbellup project, which is being done with the federal
government with accelerated procurement. We
are using social housing accelerator funds to get social housing out the door.
This is an $8.39 million investment from that accelerator fund and through our
new procurement process for 16 two-bedroom, one-bathroom silver-rated
liveable housing units, all with waterwise features and fittings and waterwise
gardens, and close to public transport. It is a great social housing project
and a key demonstration of how our procurement reforms are working.
We have to contrast that with the
approach of the opposition. We know that Hon Steve Martin and the Leader of the Liberal Party have no housing
policy. They have not one social housing policy, not one planning reform
policy, not one housing infrastructure policy—zero; nothing. It is
interesting, because the leader is going out and making other policy statements.
Hon Steve Martin was tested by a journalist recently, when he became the deputy
leader in that chain of different leaderships. When he was asked where the
Liberal Party's policies were, I kid you not, he actually said —
� it was ''not appropriate''
for the Opposition to be announcing policy positions more than a year out from
an election.
Basically,
he was saying that they have no policy. Bizarrely, today we saw the Liberals
make a commitment to overturn the ban on uranium mining. In October,
after ignoring all the critical advice, the Liberal Party pushed ahead with a commitment
to a women's and babies' hospital in Nedlands. It has committed
to deregulated shopping hours, which would help to ruin small businesses, but
when it comes to housing, apparently the Liberal leadership believes that it is
not necessary to have any housing policy. On top of that, they oppose
everything. They oppose granny flat reforms. They oppose spot-purchasing
programs. They oppose short-term rental incentives. They oppose protection for
renters. The question is: what do they stand for when it comes to social
housing, when it comes to planning, when it comes to homelessness and when it
comes to housing supply?
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.