HOUSING — AFFORDABILITY — REGIONS
294. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Housing:
I have a supplementary question. My
question was actually about access to affordable housing in regional WA. Will the government immediately act to prioritise
planning and development of service workers' accommodation in
regional towns like Kununurra so that businesses and government services can
attract and retain essential workers, as the previous Liberal–National
government did with Warambie Estate in Newman and the Osprey Key Worker Village
in South Hedland?
Mr J.N.
CAREY replied:
I thank the member for the
question. I note that her government in 2014–15 started an aggressive
sales program of Government Regional Officers' Housing. It collected a debt
of $180 million. The previous government started it. The member's
government kickstarted the process with a large aggressive sales target. We
have put a pause on GROH and I am working
with the Minister for Lands and the Minister for Planning on how we can
accelerate further regional land
availability, for example, through our $116 million Regional Land Booster
program, which has already put a number of new lots in regional markets.
In fact, right now, DevelopmentWA has around 850 lots available for sale. We are using a range of mechanisms.
Through our building bonus grant and the $116 million Regional Land
Booster program, we are making those serious commitments to boost housing
supply across Western Australia.
The SPEAKER: Members, that
concludes question time.