Tuesday, 4 March 2025

Ministers statements: planning policy

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:09): I want to see Victoria as the townhouse capital of Australia because we on this side of the house know the way out of the housing crisis. There is only one way: to build more homes so young people and working families can have a future, and we are doing that. We are already the state that is building and approving more homes than any other in the nation. But also we know that good affordable homes need to go in good connected communities. Increasingly that is what we are hearing, particularly from young people, who support the introduction of the townhouse code to see more townhouses. We know that our planning system needs a shake-up, because for too long it has been chock-full of blockers and knockers and delays that have stood in the way of developments that have been all about building more homes.

That is why we are introducing the new townhouse code and rewriting the planning act – to get more townhouses built right across our great state. Also, if it ticks all the boxes, it is on a pathway to getting approved, which of course means no costly delays, no VCAT limbo, no unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy – perhaps no member for Brighton with a megaphone marching up and down the main street – just getting on and building more homes more quickly. It is a pretty simple equation: make the system work in a way that works for young people and works for working people to get homes built more quickly. You would have thought that was a basic economic principle – supply and demand – something I have heard the Shadow Treasurer supposedly advocate. But instead of looking at supplying more homes, they are blocking the demand for more homes. We are getting on and doing the work that needs to be done to build more homes right across the state.