Housing—Supply
52. Mr Frank Paolino to the Minister for Housing and Works:
I refer to the various measures the Cook Labor government has implemented to prioritise housing supply.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how this prioritisation is impacting housing availability and delivery in Western Australia?
(2) Can the minister advise the house whether he is aware of any alternative priorities to boosting housing in our state?
Mr John Carey replied:
(1)–(2) I want to thank the member for his question. As members know, we take the issue of housing supply very seriously and we have undertaken a vast number of measures since our record investment of now $5.1 billion, with nearly 3,000 social homes and another thousand under contract and construction. We have put out a raft of policy measures, boosted land supply and streamlined and cut red tape with planning reforms. We are seeing all our policy measures have a clear and real impact. We have seen building approvals rise by 47.7% over the year to February to 22,000, far outstripping other states. We have housing completions leading the nation, with a 33% jump on the previous quarter. As we heard from the Deputy Premier, Perth's rental vacancy rate lifted to 2.5% in March. Remember that two years ago it was 0.7% and that a balanced rental market is from 2.5% to 3.5%. It demonstrates everything we are doing. All the measures that we are tackling are boosting housing supply.
What do we see from the alternative side? I have to say, I had the misfortune of coming across WA Liberals' TikToks. It is like car crash TV. You look at it and then you go away. It is like when you have a tooth that you wriggle; it is painful, but you keep wriggling the tooth. The WA Liberals' TikToks are like watching very bad television; you know it is bad for your health, but you still watch it. We saw that the "member for clan"—I should say the member for Carine—actually went on TikTok and said, "We will cut red tape so housing is more affordable." He is there targeting young people, saying he is going to cut red tape to make it more affordable. And this is what I love about the Liberals, they make these grandiose statements and yet they do the opposite. The member for Carine, while running in the election, actually campaigned against density development.
I also note that his first letter to me—I respect every member in this place who writes to ministers about the concerns of their local community—on housing was against a Department of Communities proposal to up zone to R60. That was his first letter. Now let us be very clear, R60 is not high density by any means. In fact, it is recognised as the low scale of medium density. He wrote a letter to me expressing concern about R60, and about the impact on roads and traffic, with no evidence at all. R60 is three storeys. I want to make this very clear. Leadership is about taking your community with you. R60 medium density is three storeys. It is about him peddling particular fears, and that is the truth about the WA Liberals. They are BANANAs. Do members know what BANANA stands for? I will read it out: build absolutely nothing or anything near anyone! They are not NIMBYs anymore; they are BANANAs. On one side, they go to industry and say, "We're going to cut red tape. We're going to make housing affordable." But on the other side, under the leadership of the Leader of the Liberals, they oppose more housing, they add more red tape and they work to people's worst fears about infill and density.
