❓ Mrs. Stojkovski questions the Minister for Planning on infill targets and housing diversity. The Minister defends the government's approach, contrasting it with the previous government's policies and criticising the opposition's stance.
AnsweredQoN 89Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PLANNING — INFILL
TARGETS
89. Mrs J.M.C. STOJKOVSKI to the Minister for Planning:
(1) Can the
minister update the house on how the McGowan Labor government is working to
take pressure off our growing outer suburbs and instead deliver responsible and
appropriate housing diversity close to important transport infrastructure?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house if she is aware of any threats to this approach?
TARGETS
89. Mrs J.M.C. STOJKOVSKI to the Minister for Planning:
(1) Can the
minister update the house on how the McGowan Labor government is working to
take pressure off our growing outer suburbs and instead deliver responsible and
appropriate housing diversity close to important transport infrastructure?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house if she is aware of any threats to this approach?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Kingsley for
that question.
Mr D.T. Redman interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Warren–Blackwood, I call you to order for the second time.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : He is a bit
angry this morning, member for Warren–Blackwood! I thank the member for
the question.
(1)–(2) As
the member knows, we are working to support housing choice in our suburbs. We
want to make sure that there is a diversity of housing choices available to
everyone throughout the community. The previous government up-zoned a lot of
suburbs, as we know, member for Kingsley—Joondalup, Stirling and Swan.
It basically took the approach of allowing the subdivision of nearly every
block in many instances.
Ms E. Hamilton : Nollamara!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : Exactly!
Nollamara is always given as an example. The previous government allowed
subdivisions across the board. That does not retain the urban canopy or create
districts or precincts of activity to support
small business. That is what happened under the previous government. When we
won government, we chose to do something different. We wanted to make
sure that we had diversity of choice in housing supply throughout our suburbs.
We did not want wholesale subdivision of our suburbs. We did not want every
block to be subdivided. We wanted to create precincts and make sure that we
targeted our infill to areas around train stations and activity centres. That
is what we are doing. We have been working with councils such as the City of
Subiaco. When the initial plan of Subiaco was presented, 1 700 blocks were
going to be affected. We reduced that to 275 blocks, with significant density around the Princess Margaret
Hospital for Children site, Rokeby Road and the new Subiaco oval development. The same happened with Nedlands. We created density where it is
deserved—along key activity corridors and close to public transport. We
are not up-zoning every suburban street.
The
opposition, particularly the shadow Minister for Planning, wants to unwind it
all, but only in the western suburbs , members. I want to also make the
clear statement that we adopted the targets set by the previous government. We
adopted the suburban targets inherited from the previous government because I did
not want three years of debate about the targets we inherited. I supported the
targets and we are implementing them, but we are implementing them in a way
that will create activity corridors and will not subdivide every block of land.
The former Leader of the Opposition wants to unwind all the new planning
schemes in the western suburbs, members. He is saying that he does not believe
that the western suburbs should have more housing choice or more people; they
should all be going to the outer suburbs. That is the approach of the Liberal
Party.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : That is the
planning approach of the Liberal Party. We know, for example —
Several government members
interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, your
minister is on her feet. I think she knows a little more than you do, so just
let her have a say.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : In Nedlands, a new mayor has been
elected. The new mayor asked for a meeting with me. I accepted. She sat down
and said, ''We need an ability to help implement some of these reforms
in my council area, because the previous council had not done any of the local
planning policies or any other work needed to implement sensible development.''
As a result, the mayor wants to take a proactive and constructive approach with
the state government. What did the opposition spokesperson for planning do? He
bullied and intimidated her in a public meeting, members! That is what he does.
Someone had the audacity to say that they wanted to work with the state
government, so he tried to belittle the new mayor in front of her constituents.
This is not acceptable, Leader of the Opposition. The opposition spokesperson
for planning is trying to intimidate the Mayors of Subiaco and Nedlands. No wonder the Liberal Party has a hard
time attracting women to the party! What he is doing basically undermines the efforts of elected mayors who are trying to get on with the job
and implement sensible development in their areas.
that question.
Mr D.T. Redman interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Warren–Blackwood, I call you to order for the second time.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : He is a bit
angry this morning, member for Warren–Blackwood! I thank the member for
the question.
(1)–(2) As
the member knows, we are working to support housing choice in our suburbs. We
want to make sure that there is a diversity of housing choices available to
everyone throughout the community. The previous government up-zoned a lot of
suburbs, as we know, member for Kingsley—Joondalup, Stirling and Swan.
It basically took the approach of allowing the subdivision of nearly every
block in many instances.
Ms E. Hamilton : Nollamara!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : Exactly!
Nollamara is always given as an example. The previous government allowed
subdivisions across the board. That does not retain the urban canopy or create
districts or precincts of activity to support
small business. That is what happened under the previous government. When we
won government, we chose to do something different. We wanted to make
sure that we had diversity of choice in housing supply throughout our suburbs.
We did not want wholesale subdivision of our suburbs. We did not want every
block to be subdivided. We wanted to create precincts and make sure that we
targeted our infill to areas around train stations and activity centres. That
is what we are doing. We have been working with councils such as the City of
Subiaco. When the initial plan of Subiaco was presented, 1 700 blocks were
going to be affected. We reduced that to 275 blocks, with significant density around the Princess Margaret
Hospital for Children site, Rokeby Road and the new Subiaco oval development. The same happened with Nedlands. We created density where it is
deserved—along key activity corridors and close to public transport. We
are not up-zoning every suburban street.
The
opposition, particularly the shadow Minister for Planning, wants to unwind it
all, but only in the western suburbs , members. I want to also make the
clear statement that we adopted the targets set by the previous government. We
adopted the suburban targets inherited from the previous government because I did
not want three years of debate about the targets we inherited. I supported the
targets and we are implementing them, but we are implementing them in a way
that will create activity corridors and will not subdivide every block of land.
The former Leader of the Opposition wants to unwind all the new planning
schemes in the western suburbs, members. He is saying that he does not believe
that the western suburbs should have more housing choice or more people; they
should all be going to the outer suburbs. That is the approach of the Liberal
Party.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : That is the
planning approach of the Liberal Party. We know, for example —
Several government members
interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, your
minister is on her feet. I think she knows a little more than you do, so just
let her have a say.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : In Nedlands, a new mayor has been
elected. The new mayor asked for a meeting with me. I accepted. She sat down
and said, ''We need an ability to help implement some of these reforms
in my council area, because the previous council had not done any of the local
planning policies or any other work needed to implement sensible development.''
As a result, the mayor wants to take a proactive and constructive approach with
the state government. What did the opposition spokesperson for planning do? He
bullied and intimidated her in a public meeting, members! That is what he does.
Someone had the audacity to say that they wanted to work with the state
government, so he tried to belittle the new mayor in front of her constituents.
This is not acceptable, Leader of the Opposition. The opposition spokesperson
for planning is trying to intimidate the Mayors of Subiaco and Nedlands. No wonder the Liberal Party has a hard
time attracting women to the party! What he is doing basically undermines the efforts of elected mayors who are trying to get on with the job
and implement sensible development in their areas.
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.