❓ Mrs O'Malley asks about the government's housing initiatives. The Minister outlines measures and criticises the opposition's policies, leading to interjections and a point of order.
AnsweredQoN 394Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS — INITIATIVES
394. Mrs L.M. O'MALLEY to the Minister for Housing:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
efforts to support households and vulnerable Western Australians.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how this
government's laws to ban rent bidding and limit rent increases, along with the government's $3.2 billion investment in housing and
homelessness services is supporting Western Australians?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether he is aware of anyone who does not support
this assistance?
394. Mrs L.M. O'MALLEY to the Minister for Housing:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
efforts to support households and vulnerable Western Australians.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how this
government's laws to ban rent bidding and limit rent increases, along with the government's $3.2 billion investment in housing and
homelessness services is supporting Western Australians?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether he is aware of anyone who does not support
this assistance?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for her question. As we know,
every housing and rental market in the country is facing incredible
pressures. The Premier, the Deputy Premier and this state government are very
cognisant and acutely aware of those pressures. That is why members have seen
an unprecedented number of measures to assist with the rental market in Western
Australia. I want to go through the list. Clearly, we have done our reforms
around short-term rentals. To date, our incentive scheme has brought nearly 200
homes back to the rental market. That is critically important. Even a single
home in a small regional market matters. But, of course, our tougher
regulations around Airbnb will start to come in from 1 July this year, with a central
register and planning approvals. We have our build-to-rent exemption—a
tax incentive to help grow that sector by reducing land tax. We have our latest
new scheme from the budget—a $5 000 grant to encourage people to put
vacant homes back on the market. We have our rental relief scheme, a fantastic
scheme that is helping people in need from becoming homeless by providing a grant
worth up to $5 000 through not-for-profit
services to arrange and negotiate with landlords to facilitate a longer
tenancy. Of course, we have our rental reforms, which are really about
providing a fairer system, a balanced system and greater certainty in the
rental market. That includes not only enabling renters to make their houses
feel like a home, but, critically, also stopping landlords and agents from
encouraging and facilitating a rent-bidding atmosphere and only enabling
a rent increase once every 12 months. We should not underestimate how important
that is for a renter. It provides greater certainty about their tenancy.
This
is an enormous package of reforms and measures on top of our unprecedented
increase in homelessness and housing funding. That is where we stand on
this issue. Where does the opposition stand? Where do the Liberals stand? Where
do the Nationals WA stand? As I have said repeatedly, we know that the National
Party, despite feigning concern for home builders and consumers, has a policy
platform to make it harder to build homes in regional Western Australia, making
it harder for small and medium builders located in the regions to build.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Leader of the
Opposition. I call the minister.
Mr J.N. CAREY : You are a very
sad, grumpy man. I feel very sorry for you.
This is the truth, because the
opposition does not even understand its own planning policies. It is putting
forward more red tape —
Ms M.J. Davies interjected.
Mr J.N. CAREY : Member for
Central Wheatbelt, you are retiring. Out the door!
The reality is this: firstly, the
opposition is putting forward a platform that will make it harder to build
housing in regional Western Australia.
Industry is deeply concerned by its changes; it did not even bother to consult
the industry , and I know that.
Secondly, the Liberals and
Nationals feign concern about the rental market. When they have an opportunity —
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
Mr J.N. CAREY : The Leader of
the Opposition is very angry.
Several members interjected.
Point of Order
Dr D.J. HONEY : Point of
order, Madam Speaker.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order! I am
taking the point of order.
Dr D.J. HONEY : If the
Minister for Police is going to interject, he should be using the proper titles
for members of the opposition, not making gratuitous childish insults.
The SPEAKER : I did not hear
the interjection from the Minister for Police but there have been quite
incessant interjections from the Leader of the Opposition, which I do
understand because some of your remarks, minister, have been very personally
directed at him. I ask you to move towards concluding your answer.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr J.N. CAREY : Thank you,
Madam Speaker.
The
point I am making is that the opposition feigns concern about the housing and
rental market, yet at an opportunity right here in this Parliament, when
it could have voted for greater basic protections for tenants and renters in
the market, the National Party and the Liberal Party voted against it. They are
very clear reforms to provide greater protections and certainty for tenants and
to stop rent bidding, which is exploiting tenants in Western Australia. What
did the Nationals do? What did the Liberals do? They voted against it. Let us
be very clear. This government, on this side, is driving a package of reforms
and measures to assist the housing and rental market. The other side, when it
has an opportunity, does not care and votes it down.
every housing and rental market in the country is facing incredible
pressures. The Premier, the Deputy Premier and this state government are very
cognisant and acutely aware of those pressures. That is why members have seen
an unprecedented number of measures to assist with the rental market in Western
Australia. I want to go through the list. Clearly, we have done our reforms
around short-term rentals. To date, our incentive scheme has brought nearly 200
homes back to the rental market. That is critically important. Even a single
home in a small regional market matters. But, of course, our tougher
regulations around Airbnb will start to come in from 1 July this year, with a central
register and planning approvals. We have our build-to-rent exemption—a
tax incentive to help grow that sector by reducing land tax. We have our latest
new scheme from the budget—a $5 000 grant to encourage people to put
vacant homes back on the market. We have our rental relief scheme, a fantastic
scheme that is helping people in need from becoming homeless by providing a grant
worth up to $5 000 through not-for-profit
services to arrange and negotiate with landlords to facilitate a longer
tenancy. Of course, we have our rental reforms, which are really about
providing a fairer system, a balanced system and greater certainty in the
rental market. That includes not only enabling renters to make their houses
feel like a home, but, critically, also stopping landlords and agents from
encouraging and facilitating a rent-bidding atmosphere and only enabling
a rent increase once every 12 months. We should not underestimate how important
that is for a renter. It provides greater certainty about their tenancy.
This
is an enormous package of reforms and measures on top of our unprecedented
increase in homelessness and housing funding. That is where we stand on
this issue. Where does the opposition stand? Where do the Liberals stand? Where
do the Nationals WA stand? As I have said repeatedly, we know that the National
Party, despite feigning concern for home builders and consumers, has a policy
platform to make it harder to build homes in regional Western Australia, making
it harder for small and medium builders located in the regions to build.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Leader of the
Opposition. I call the minister.
Mr J.N. CAREY : You are a very
sad, grumpy man. I feel very sorry for you.
This is the truth, because the
opposition does not even understand its own planning policies. It is putting
forward more red tape —
Ms M.J. Davies interjected.
Mr J.N. CAREY : Member for
Central Wheatbelt, you are retiring. Out the door!
The reality is this: firstly, the
opposition is putting forward a platform that will make it harder to build
housing in regional Western Australia.
Industry is deeply concerned by its changes; it did not even bother to consult
the industry , and I know that.
Secondly, the Liberals and
Nationals feign concern about the rental market. When they have an opportunity —
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
Mr J.N. CAREY : The Leader of
the Opposition is very angry.
Several members interjected.
Point of Order
Dr D.J. HONEY : Point of
order, Madam Speaker.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order! I am
taking the point of order.
Dr D.J. HONEY : If the
Minister for Police is going to interject, he should be using the proper titles
for members of the opposition, not making gratuitous childish insults.
The SPEAKER : I did not hear
the interjection from the Minister for Police but there have been quite
incessant interjections from the Leader of the Opposition, which I do
understand because some of your remarks, minister, have been very personally
directed at him. I ask you to move towards concluding your answer.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr J.N. CAREY : Thank you,
Madam Speaker.
The
point I am making is that the opposition feigns concern about the housing and
rental market, yet at an opportunity right here in this Parliament, when
it could have voted for greater basic protections for tenants and renters in
the market, the National Party and the Liberal Party voted against it. They are
very clear reforms to provide greater protections and certainty for tenants and
to stop rent bidding, which is exploiting tenants in Western Australia. What
did the Nationals do? What did the Liberals do? They voted against it. Let us
be very clear. This government, on this side, is driving a package of reforms
and measures to assist the housing and rental market. The other side, when it
has an opportunity, does not care and votes it down.
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.