❓ The Minister for Planning and Lands outlines the Cook Labor government's planning reforms aimed at accelerating housing delivery by streamlining approvals and reducing red tape, while criticising the opposition's stance on the issue.

Housing—Planning reform58.Ms Colleen Eganto theMinister for Planning and Lands:I refer to the Cook Labor government's commitment to reforming our planning system.Can the minister update the house on the work the government is undertaking to reform our planning system, and can he outline how those reforms will accelerate the delivery of housing to ensure that every Western Australian has a home?

Mr John Carey replied:As we know, across Australia there is a critical focus on streamlining and cutting the time taken for approvals for housing supply. This is based on the advice and expertise of people working in the construction and the housing sector, whether it is the Property Council of Australia, the Urban Development Institute of Australia or the Housing Industry Association. Any delay can add to holding costs and make or break a project. It is for that reason that every state in the country is working hard to drive reforms. We are in fact ahead of the pack. I note that only last week Victoria announced new townhouse reforms that we already do in substance. We are really leading the nation with our significant pathway for major housing projects, with our consolidation of the development assessment panel system, bringing in more consistent decision-making, reducing duplication and even down to single-home approvals. Previously, single homes would go to elected officials for consideration. That in itself can mean an additional few months, adding to the extra cost of building a single home. Our state government is doing more substantial work through the independent body of the Western Australian Planning Commission. We are nowworking with a stakeholder advisory group to look at new opportunities to cut and streamline the residential codes. For the non-planning geeks here, I love the R-code. It is the baseline code that provides the rules for everything from single homes all the way up to apartments. We are looking at ways to have further planning exemptions to cut and extract the complexities to make it easier, particularly around the medium-density product.I note that that is the work we are doing. Of course, members on the opposite side—both Liberals and Nationals—are going in the opposite direction. They are advocating to remove the reforms that are recognised by industry. They want it sent back to local government. They want to devolve it to local government, adding more burdens and red tape. The Nationals wanted to create a chaotic system of having three and three on the DAP panels. Anyone with any logic and understanding would note that that would result in so many issues being deferred or sent off to the State Administrative Tribunal. The Liberals are all over the place. Hon Steve Martin is saying that people are sick of planning reform and Hon Neil Thomson is saying that we should do more planning reform. The Liberals themselves are in disarray. I note that last week the Liberal leader was around UWA spruiking the Young Liberals there. The Young Liberals did some really interesting polls that asked what the big picture is about housing and whether it should be around urban sprawl or apartment density. Interestingly, it appeared that even the Young Liberals were overwhelmingly endorsing density. They have not told that to the leadership because the older Liberals are actively opposing housing wherever they go. We know that the members for Carine, Churchlands and Cottesloe are actively opposing density. Even now, Colin Edwardes, another former Liberal apparatchik, is in there opposing density in the City of Joondalup. Wherever we look, we can see Liberal councillors, Liberal campaigners and the Liberal support networks actively opposing housing in the northern and southern suburbs. That has been noticed by industry. Industry can clearly see that one side of politics is actively opposing housing. Only one side of politics—the Cook Labor government—is working hard to accelerate housing delivery. Housing—Planning reform