❓ The Minister for Planning details how the Infrastructure Development Fund supports housing delivery and criticises the opposition's housing policies, citing specific examples of perceived inconsistencies.
AnsweredQoN 445Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOUSING — INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT FUND
445. Mr M.J. FOLKARD to the Minister for Planning:
I refer to the Cook Labor
government's expansion of the successful infrastructure development
fund.
(1) Can the
minister advise the house how the fund is supporting reforms, accelerating
housing delivery and boosting supply?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether he is aware of anyone who is opposing the
government's agenda to deliver more housing?
445. Mr M.J. FOLKARD to the Minister for Planning:
I refer to the Cook Labor
government's expansion of the successful infrastructure development
fund.
(1) Can the
minister advise the house how the fund is supporting reforms, accelerating
housing delivery and boosting supply?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether he is aware of anyone who is opposing the
government's agenda to deliver more housing?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for his question and his support for accelerating housing
supply in Western Australia. As I have said, this government is doing
everything it can to boost housing supply in Western Australia. We have seen
from this government a vast number of different initiatives to drive and boost
that supply. Those initiatives include infill and apartment developments. It is
well known. The Deputy Premier, the Minister
for Environment, the Minister for Water and I met with land developers
yesterday in a roundtable to talk about boosting housing supply. There
is a general recognition of cost escalations. For example, we have seen a more
than 30 per cent rise in the cost for a single home, and for apartments and
infills we have seen much larger cost
escalations to the point that we have seen a number of developments not proceed .
That is why we created an $80 million infrastructure development fund that pays
for the headworks of major apartments and infills.
This week I announced the latest
grants, which will deliver another 363 apartments across suburban Perth in
eight successful projects. Already, as a result of this program, 564 new
apartments are currently under construction. As we know, in this tight rental
market, every apartment being built is critical for the rental market and the
housing market. In the latest round, I was at a mixed-use development where we
turned the soil in Cockburn Central—not
the western suburbs, as the member for Cottesloe claims. That will deliver 109 apartments—that is the component we are funding—as well as
a hotel lodging house and commercial floor
space. Suburbs with other projects include Midland, Fremantle and Sorrento.
This is a demonstration of how our government is thinking outside the
box to drive that supply.
I note that the opposition is going
in the opposite direction. The Nationals WA has already announced planning
reforms that it would introduce that will make it more difficult to build
workers accommodation and houses in regional Western Australia. It will do that
by lifting the threshold, reducing access to the development assessment panel
system, and also by changing the composition of DAPs to three experts and three
councillors. Anyone could look at the sums and make a very clear determination
that a lot more projects will be deferred
and unresolved and stagnate in the system. The official Nationals policy is to
make it more difficult to deliver
housing. What is apparent from the member for Roe, who has complained about local governments and their impact on
housing development, is that his party does not even understand it.
It is interesting. The Leader of the
Liberal Party also did a piece for the Urban Development Institute of Australia
in which she talked to the housing industry. She said that she wanted to
provide certainty for those who want to invest in local communities. That was
her message to the housing industry sector. She wants to provide certainty for
those investments. Yet, when it comes to a precinct approach in her own
electorate of Dunsborough, she shows the total opposite. In 2017, the council
recommended the upzoning of the town centre to five storeys. Investors and
property owners then made a decision about those properties. Come last year and this year, the Liberal leader then advocated
for a downzoning to three storeys in Dunsborough. She actively went out
of her way to advocate for less housing in the town centre and downzoning in
the town centre. I am just interested to know from the Liberal leader how that
fits with wanting to provide certainty for
those who want to invest in local communities. She wants to flip the zoning around after a decision has been made. This demonstrates the point about the
Liberals and the Nationals: they do not
understand planning policies. We have seen that with the member for Cottesloe
making incorrect statements about CEOs approving high-density. The
Liberals do not even have any housing policies, and it is so close to the
election. On this side of the house, we are doing everything we can through a range
of measures, and on that side of the house, they are either bringing in more
red tape or are all over the place.
thank the member for his question and his support for accelerating housing
supply in Western Australia. As I have said, this government is doing
everything it can to boost housing supply in Western Australia. We have seen
from this government a vast number of different initiatives to drive and boost
that supply. Those initiatives include infill and apartment developments. It is
well known. The Deputy Premier, the Minister
for Environment, the Minister for Water and I met with land developers
yesterday in a roundtable to talk about boosting housing supply. There
is a general recognition of cost escalations. For example, we have seen a more
than 30 per cent rise in the cost for a single home, and for apartments and
infills we have seen much larger cost
escalations to the point that we have seen a number of developments not proceed .
That is why we created an $80 million infrastructure development fund that pays
for the headworks of major apartments and infills.
This week I announced the latest
grants, which will deliver another 363 apartments across suburban Perth in
eight successful projects. Already, as a result of this program, 564 new
apartments are currently under construction. As we know, in this tight rental
market, every apartment being built is critical for the rental market and the
housing market. In the latest round, I was at a mixed-use development where we
turned the soil in Cockburn Central—not
the western suburbs, as the member for Cottesloe claims. That will deliver 109 apartments—that is the component we are funding—as well as
a hotel lodging house and commercial floor
space. Suburbs with other projects include Midland, Fremantle and Sorrento.
This is a demonstration of how our government is thinking outside the
box to drive that supply.
I note that the opposition is going
in the opposite direction. The Nationals WA has already announced planning
reforms that it would introduce that will make it more difficult to build
workers accommodation and houses in regional Western Australia. It will do that
by lifting the threshold, reducing access to the development assessment panel
system, and also by changing the composition of DAPs to three experts and three
councillors. Anyone could look at the sums and make a very clear determination
that a lot more projects will be deferred
and unresolved and stagnate in the system. The official Nationals policy is to
make it more difficult to deliver
housing. What is apparent from the member for Roe, who has complained about local governments and their impact on
housing development, is that his party does not even understand it.
It is interesting. The Leader of the
Liberal Party also did a piece for the Urban Development Institute of Australia
in which she talked to the housing industry. She said that she wanted to
provide certainty for those who want to invest in local communities. That was
her message to the housing industry sector. She wants to provide certainty for
those investments. Yet, when it comes to a precinct approach in her own
electorate of Dunsborough, she shows the total opposite. In 2017, the council
recommended the upzoning of the town centre to five storeys. Investors and
property owners then made a decision about those properties. Come last year and this year, the Liberal leader then advocated
for a downzoning to three storeys in Dunsborough. She actively went out
of her way to advocate for less housing in the town centre and downzoning in
the town centre. I am just interested to know from the Liberal leader how that
fits with wanting to provide certainty for
those who want to invest in local communities. She wants to flip the zoning around after a decision has been made. This demonstrates the point about the
Liberals and the Nationals: they do not
understand planning policies. We have seen that with the member for Cottesloe
making incorrect statements about CEOs approving high-density. The
Liberals do not even have any housing policies, and it is so close to the
election. On this side of the house, we are doing everything we can through a range
of measures, and on that side of the house, they are either bringing in more
red tape or are all over the place.
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