❓ Ms Shaw questions the Minister for Planning about actions undermining the Planning Reform Action Plan. The Minister accuses the Member for Darling Range of spreading misinformation regarding a specific MRS amendment, leading to community confusion and abusive correspondence.
AnsweredQoN 953Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PLANNING REFORM ACTION
PLAN
953. Ms J.J. SHAW to the Minister for Planning:
Before I begin, can I acknowledge
the fantastic women union leaders from the Anna Stewart Memorial Project with
us today in the house.
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's Planning Reform Action Plan, which aims to make the
planning system easy to understand and ensure that information on planning
matters and decisions are communicated effectively to the community. Is the
minister aware of anyone who is undermining these efforts and creating
uncertainty within the community about planning decision-making?
PLAN
953. Ms J.J. SHAW to the Minister for Planning:
Before I begin, can I acknowledge
the fantastic women union leaders from the Anna Stewart Memorial Project with
us today in the house.
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's Planning Reform Action Plan, which aims to make the
planning system easy to understand and ensure that information on planning
matters and decisions are communicated effectively to the community. Is the
minister aware of anyone who is undermining these efforts and creating
uncertainty within the community about planning decision-making?
AnswerView source ↗
I
thank the member for Swan Hills for the question. Of course, planning reform is
all about making the system more transparent and more efficient, with
the aim of creating better places for people to live and making sure that
people can navigate the planning system in the community. We are progressing a number
of key reforms to standardise land-use zones across Western Australia, to make
it a more simple and a more efficient development approvals process. We want to
make sure we develop a planning system that is more transparent that the
community can be involved in and that we do a good job creating better places
to live. What we do not need, of course, are people spreading misinformation
and mistruths on the planning system. I am afraid that has happened yet again
from the member for Darling Range.
Several members interjected.
Mrs A.K. Hayden interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Darling Range, you did not even need bait on the hook.
Ms
R. SAFFIOTI : On 30 August 2019, I
approved MRS amendment 1343/57—South East and South West Districts Omnibus 3, the purpose of which is to update
varied zones and reserves in the south east and south west districts. The amendment contains 22 separate proposals. As a matter of courtesy, the Western Australian
Planning Commission notifies local members. It wrote to the member for Darling
Range, advising her that submission 1343/57 had gone through. What did the local member do? Did she get across the detail and
absorb the information? No! She wrote to people in Cardup and said, ''Sadly,
Labor state government minister Rita Saffioti has approved the metropolitan
region scheme amendment regarding Hopkinson Road in Cardup.'' The
problem is that she got the wrong MRS! She attacked me in a letter she wrote to
the community, but she got the wrong MRS. That MRS is still under
consideration.
Ms S.E. Winton interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Wanneroo!
Ms
R. SAFFIOTI : I received abusive
letters and emails, including one from a local resident who wrote, ''How dare you''. That local resident then wrote back and said, ''Sorry,
Alyssa Hayden got it wrong.'' It is very important, when we are talking
about planning in the community, to work to get good outcomes and not make such
a mistake. I hope the member apologises to me and all those community members
for making such a bad mistake. Another community member wrote and said, ''This
is what's happened, minister.'' A member of the public wrote to
me and said, ''Alyssa Hayden wrote to us telling us something, but it's
completely wrong.'' It is not the first time, nor will it be the last
time, that the member for Darling Range, in her political way, has tried to
attack the Labor government without getting across the facts.
thank the member for Swan Hills for the question. Of course, planning reform is
all about making the system more transparent and more efficient, with
the aim of creating better places for people to live and making sure that
people can navigate the planning system in the community. We are progressing a number
of key reforms to standardise land-use zones across Western Australia, to make
it a more simple and a more efficient development approvals process. We want to
make sure we develop a planning system that is more transparent that the
community can be involved in and that we do a good job creating better places
to live. What we do not need, of course, are people spreading misinformation
and mistruths on the planning system. I am afraid that has happened yet again
from the member for Darling Range.
Several members interjected.
Mrs A.K. Hayden interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Darling Range, you did not even need bait on the hook.
Ms
R. SAFFIOTI : On 30 August 2019, I
approved MRS amendment 1343/57—South East and South West Districts Omnibus 3, the purpose of which is to update
varied zones and reserves in the south east and south west districts. The amendment contains 22 separate proposals. As a matter of courtesy, the Western Australian
Planning Commission notifies local members. It wrote to the member for Darling
Range, advising her that submission 1343/57 had gone through. What did the local member do? Did she get across the detail and
absorb the information? No! She wrote to people in Cardup and said, ''Sadly,
Labor state government minister Rita Saffioti has approved the metropolitan
region scheme amendment regarding Hopkinson Road in Cardup.'' The
problem is that she got the wrong MRS! She attacked me in a letter she wrote to
the community, but she got the wrong MRS. That MRS is still under
consideration.
Ms S.E. Winton interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Wanneroo!
Ms
R. SAFFIOTI : I received abusive
letters and emails, including one from a local resident who wrote, ''How dare you''. That local resident then wrote back and said, ''Sorry,
Alyssa Hayden got it wrong.'' It is very important, when we are talking
about planning in the community, to work to get good outcomes and not make such
a mistake. I hope the member apologises to me and all those community members
for making such a bad mistake. Another community member wrote and said, ''This
is what's happened, minister.'' A member of the public wrote to
me and said, ''Alyssa Hayden wrote to us telling us something, but it's
completely wrong.'' It is not the first time, nor will it be the last
time, that the member for Darling Range, in her political way, has tried to
attack the Labor government without getting across the facts.
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.