CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Dr ALY (Cowan—Minister for Small Business, Minister for International Development and Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (10:19): Cowan is home to a plethora of innovative businesses across a wide a wide range of sectors, and among them is housing. A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of having the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, in the electorate of Cowan, where we visited Modular WA's display village in Wangara, which is right in the heart of Cowan—and, interestingly, on a street called Challenge Boulevard.
We saw firsthand how smart construction can help to build more homes more quickly and more efficiently, helping us to tackle the housing shortage that we're all confronting. The Albanese government has partnered with the Western Australian government to manufacture 54 new modular social homes. It was quite a treat to go and have a look at these homes on display at Modular WA.
They certainly aren't cardboard cut-outs; they are state-of-the-art, fully engineered homes on steel frames with full fitted-out kitchens, bathrooms and insulation. It was quite impressive to see these homes that are manufactured in WA and then transported across 17 sites throughout WA's Wheatbelt region, where the need for suitable social housing is absolutely critical.
The homes we visited at Modular WA will give seniors on the social housing waitlist an affordable, secure and fit-for-purpose home while also allowing them to remain in the regions where they are close to their families and friends and where they have built a life and a sense of belonging with their local community. It is incredibly important that we can do that for seniors living in regional areas across WA.
As I mentioned, the homes are built in Wangara, in Cowan, and, in that process, support skilled Western Australian jobs in Cowan's industrial hub. It's a great example of the work we're doing in housing policy but also the way that innovation, particularly in the construction of modular homes, is helping to ease the housing crisis and address housing supply. These homes can go up in a matter of weeks compared to what it might take to build a brick-and-mortar home as well.
Across the country, we've committed to delivering 55,000 social and affordable homes by 2029. In Cowan in particular, we're supporting 116 additional social and affordable homes and investing over $14 million in infrastructure projects that help unlock even more housing. I make a final point about Modular WA.
They started out as a small family business by the McGrath family. Fun fact: the McGrath family also own Norfolk Homes, who was the chosen builder for my second home. I congratulate them on their innovation and helping to ease our housing crisis.
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