PUBLIC HOUSING — WAITLIST — NORTH WEST
CENTRAL ELECTORATE
485. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Housing:
I have a supplementary question.
Given the significance of the regional housing crisis, why is the minister not
ensuring that his office has up-to-date information on the nature of the
inquiry that was put to him in question on notice 766?
Mr J.N. CAREY
replied:
I regularly report to Parliament about the delivery of social
housing. That includes, for example, the $100 million modular program for 200
modular homes, the majority of which are in regional Western Australia. I also
have undertaken a review of Government Regional Officers' Housing homes
that were surplus to needs when they no longer met workers' aspirations
or requirements and have converted those to social housing. Thirty-nine homes
have been moved across. I consistently indicate in this Parliament every lever
and reform. I want to go through the other reforms because I think it is
important to put them on the record.
We have added 600 additional homes and 860 are under contract
or construction. I am establishing a new statewide builders panel to streamline
procurement. We have the GROH review that I mentioned. We have undertaken
planning reform so that the Department of Communities can self-approve social
housing developments of up to 10 units. We
have the modular program. We have the timber frame construction program. We
have the new housing diversity program. We have created the remote
communities fund, with $350 million to fill the gap that the federal government left. We have increased Keystart income
eligibility, particularly for people in the Pilbara where we know it has
been a constraint. We have brought in a 100 per cent stamp duty rebate. We have
brought in a 50 per cent land tax concession. We are working on a density bonus
to incentivise the private sector. We have been working with local governments
to release land at discounted cost to assist with workers'
accommodation and we have the Regional Land Booster program. In this year's
budget, $19 million extra was allocated for Kalgoorlie and Karratha to release
residential land.
These are all initiatives that have occurred during my time
as the Minister for Housing and that have been driven with other ministers to
deliver the acceleration of social housing. No-one believes the opposition. It
is only the opposition criticising it. I note it is not the Master Builders
Association or the housing construction sector. It is not the homelessness
sector. It is only the Liberal–National Party opposition. Like today
when Steve Martin put out a release in which he distorted figures and did not
compare apples with apples, the opposition consistently gets it wrong and seeks
to deliberately mislead Western Australians.