PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Dr RYAN (Kooyong) (18:44): I thank the member for Brisbane for moving this motion. The people of Kooyong understand that we need more housing, that young people deserve the opportunity to live in the communities where they grew up and that essential workers should be able to live close to where they work. They understand the need for well-designed housing close to jobs, transport and services.
What residents don't understand is why we're expected to accept sweeping planning reforms passed by state government edict without any evidence that those reforms will deliver the affordable housing that we've been promised. Across Melbourne's inner east, communities are being told that activity centres, planning changes and fast-tracked developments are necessary to improve housing affordability.
But we're not seeing affordable housing. What we're seeing instead are proposals for high-end apartment developments targeted primarily at affluent buyers and downsizers. Housing for downsizers is important, but luxury apartments alone can't and won't solve the housing challenges facing essential workers, low-income households, young families and those at risk of homelessness.
I have consistently supported thoughtful housing growth in well-located areas and housing policy to ensure that nurses, paramedics, teachers, aged-care workers and the other people who keep our communities functioning can afford to live close to where they work. The former VicRoads site on Denmark Street in Kew is a perfect opportunity to put that principle into practice.
It's surplus public land close to transport shops, schools and services. The Victorian government said that it could deliver as many as 500 homes, including affordable housing, and I've repeatedly welcomed that. But, years after VicRoads was closed, our community is still waiting for certainty about what will ultimately be built, who will build it and when those homes will be delivered.
If federal and state governments are serious about affordability, public sites like this could lead the way. We need to move beyond announcements and turn well-located public land into homes that people can afford and want to live in. Residents repeatedly tell me that they support more social and affordable housing.
What concerns them is that many of the government's reforms lack enforceable mechanisms to ensure that that sort of housing is actually delivered. In high-value areas like Kooyong, affordable housing will not emerge simply because more land is rezoned. It requires clear targets, strong incentives and direct government investment.
Theoretically, the state government's Development Facilitation Program requires at least 10 per cent of dwellings to be affordable housing. The reality is that that is easily circumvented by payment of a cash contribution equal to three per cent of the development cost into the Social Housing Growth Fund. There is no requirement that the fund money be spent in the municipality where the development sits, so we have no guarantees of affordable housing in Boroondara.
Many residents feel that they're being deprived of fair opportunities to participate in planning decisions. They have voiced concerns about inadequate consultation, reduced transparency and the diminishing role of local government. In Kooyong, both Boroondara and Stonnington councils have mature, sensitive and ambitious housing strategies.
These have been largely ignored by the state government. I recently met with residents of Wattle Road in Hawthorn, where two major apartment blocks are proposed. The concern of residents was not that housing should not be built; their concern is that the developments will likely be high-end apartments with no guarantee of social or affordable housing and with insufficient consideration of the potential impact on local amenity and infrastructure.
We can build more homes while engaging meaningfully with communities. We can increase density while ensuring that roads, schools, public transport and open spaces keep pace. We can support housing growth with genuine contributions to affordable and social housing.
The people of Kooyong do support responsible housing growth. They want a planning system which is transparent, evidence based and genuinely focused on affordability. Our housing policies should ultimately be judged not by how many planning controls are removed, how many developments are approved or how much red tape is circumvented, but by whether all Australians can afford a secure place to call home.
That's the test that counts.