HOUSING — INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
87. Hon Dr BRAD PETTITT to the Leader of the House
representing the Minister for Housing:
I refer to the thousands of
international students to be allowed back into Western Australia, which shows
the imminent return of 6 000 students to WA as well as the fact that Perth now
has the lowest vacancy rate of all states at 0.6 per cent ahead of the border
reopening.
(1) What is the
expected net increase in WA's population once the borders reopen and
where will these people live?
(2) Has the state
government done any modelling on the impact of the population change upon the
border reopening on WA's 0.6 per cent vacancy rate; and, if yes, can
the minister please table the modelling?
(3) What will the impact of (2) have
on —
(a) services that are already
overwhelmed;
(b) impacts on evictions; and
(c) impact on homelessness?
(4) What measures
is the government putting in place to prevent an influx of returning Western Australians
creating a wave of homelessness?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1)–(3) The
Department of Treasury undertakes a range of economic forecasts on an ongoing
basis. Projections relating to population growth in the housing market will be
published in the 2022–23 state budget papers.
(4) The McGowan
government is investing more than $2.5 billion in social housing and
homelessness initiatives over the next four years. This includes a recently
announced record investment of $875 million as
part of the 2021–22 state budget. This is the single largest one-off
investment into social housing in the state's history and will
provide an immediate boost to social housing.