❓ The Minister outlines the Cook Labor government's investment in innovative construction methods, highlighting increased use of prefabrication and a new $48 million investment. The Minister criticises the opposition's lack of housing policies and perceived hypocrisy.
AnsweredQoN 220Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Housing—Construction
220. Mrs Magenta Marshall to the Minister for
Housing and Works:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's commitment to ensuring that every Western Australian has a
home. Can the minister please outline to the house how the Cook Labor
government is investing in innovative construction methods to deliver more
homes for Western Australians?
220. Mrs Magenta Marshall to the Minister for
Housing and Works:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's commitment to ensuring that every Western Australian has a
home. Can the minister please outline to the house how the Cook Labor
government is investing in innovative construction methods to deliver more
homes for Western Australians?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member
for the question. As a government, we have embraced alternative construction to
accelerate the delivery of homes. In fact, only three years ago, our housing
and works program was around 25% prefabrication, modular and other builds that
are not traditional builds. We inherited from the Liberals a double-brick
program. Now, more than 45% of the housing and works program is delivering
housing through alternative means, which shows how we have grown the sector.
Today, it was fantastic to join the Deputy Premier, the Premier and the Minister
for Manufacturing to announce a $48 million investment into advanced
manufacturing facilities in Western Australia. This investment will help build
and expand the capacity of Atlas Precast and will enable Built Living to
establish a new manufacturing facility. What we know about this at its heart—excuse
the pun—is that it is a bit like Lego: you get the floor slabs and the walls,
you build it off site, you take it to the site and then the workers piece it
together. It is more effective, it is more efficient and also, particularly, it
is targeted at the medium-density and high-density market. We know, due to a
number of historical reasons, that Western Australia has not had the same level
of builders to deliver that product. By enabling precast and prefab, we are
going to grow that sector to build medium-density to high-density apartments,
which is what we need in Western Australia.
Some of that is
already being utilised in our Housing Australia Future Fund projects that are
funded jointly with the federal government where we are building build-to-rent
projects. That is what we are doing. What does the other side do? On the
weekend, the member for Cottesloe came out and just criticised us.
Interestingly, at the last election—this was just over a year ago—they took no
policies on housing innovation, no policies on modular and no policies on
advanced manufacturing. Zero. Of course, we should not be surprised by that,
because the member for Cottesloe is actively opposing build-to-rent projects
and social and affordable projects and is actively opposing density projects in
her own electorate. I want to show the hypocrisy of the member for Cottesloe,
who is feigning concern about build-to-rent projects et cetera and there not
being enough apartments in the market. She was very happy last year to do a
reel saying everything wrong with the planning system and that 15-storey and 17-storey
apartment buildings were being built right next to a train station, a minute's
walk away. What is really funny—this is hypocrisy at its worst—was when the 23-storey
Blackburne building was opened in Subiaco. She was very happy to go to the
celebration at the opening of that 23-storey building. She was also very happy
to stand next to former Premier Mark McGowan and endorse the planning system
that enables that type of development. This is hypocrisy at its worst, but it
is also a classic Liberal approach. It is okay for all the other electorates to
have high-density apartments and to have build-to-rent projects, but when it is
in her own patch, in Cottesloe, it cannot be done.
That is a failure of
leadership. Rather than taking people on a journey about the need for
transit-oriented development, she preys on people's worst fears, despite
applauding a 23-storey building in Subiaco. This is the broader point: that
side has no principled position when it comes to housing and planning policy.
There is no consistency. We do not know if that 20% stamp duty cut is a
policy. Hon Anthony Spagnolo says it is. He says it is bold. It is three
years out. The Liberal leader says "I don't know. It's not a policy
position. I'm not sure."
This is the reality
of the Liberal Party. When it has no values, it has no policies.
for the question. As a government, we have embraced alternative construction to
accelerate the delivery of homes. In fact, only three years ago, our housing
and works program was around 25% prefabrication, modular and other builds that
are not traditional builds. We inherited from the Liberals a double-brick
program. Now, more than 45% of the housing and works program is delivering
housing through alternative means, which shows how we have grown the sector.
Today, it was fantastic to join the Deputy Premier, the Premier and the Minister
for Manufacturing to announce a $48 million investment into advanced
manufacturing facilities in Western Australia. This investment will help build
and expand the capacity of Atlas Precast and will enable Built Living to
establish a new manufacturing facility. What we know about this at its heart—excuse
the pun—is that it is a bit like Lego: you get the floor slabs and the walls,
you build it off site, you take it to the site and then the workers piece it
together. It is more effective, it is more efficient and also, particularly, it
is targeted at the medium-density and high-density market. We know, due to a
number of historical reasons, that Western Australia has not had the same level
of builders to deliver that product. By enabling precast and prefab, we are
going to grow that sector to build medium-density to high-density apartments,
which is what we need in Western Australia.
Some of that is
already being utilised in our Housing Australia Future Fund projects that are
funded jointly with the federal government where we are building build-to-rent
projects. That is what we are doing. What does the other side do? On the
weekend, the member for Cottesloe came out and just criticised us.
Interestingly, at the last election—this was just over a year ago—they took no
policies on housing innovation, no policies on modular and no policies on
advanced manufacturing. Zero. Of course, we should not be surprised by that,
because the member for Cottesloe is actively opposing build-to-rent projects
and social and affordable projects and is actively opposing density projects in
her own electorate. I want to show the hypocrisy of the member for Cottesloe,
who is feigning concern about build-to-rent projects et cetera and there not
being enough apartments in the market. She was very happy last year to do a
reel saying everything wrong with the planning system and that 15-storey and 17-storey
apartment buildings were being built right next to a train station, a minute's
walk away. What is really funny—this is hypocrisy at its worst—was when the 23-storey
Blackburne building was opened in Subiaco. She was very happy to go to the
celebration at the opening of that 23-storey building. She was also very happy
to stand next to former Premier Mark McGowan and endorse the planning system
that enables that type of development. This is hypocrisy at its worst, but it
is also a classic Liberal approach. It is okay for all the other electorates to
have high-density apartments and to have build-to-rent projects, but when it is
in her own patch, in Cottesloe, it cannot be done.
That is a failure of
leadership. Rather than taking people on a journey about the need for
transit-oriented development, she preys on people's worst fears, despite
applauding a 23-storey building in Subiaco. This is the broader point: that
side has no principled position when it comes to housing and planning policy.
There is no consistency. We do not know if that 20% stamp duty cut is a
policy. Hon Anthony Spagnolo says it is. He says it is bold. It is three
years out. The Liberal leader says "I don't know. It's not a policy
position. I'm not sure."
This is the reality
of the Liberal Party. When it has no values, it has no policies.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.