Ministers statements: housing supply
Colin BROOKS (Bundoora – Minister for Development Victoria, Minister for Precincts, Minister for Creative Industries) (14:18): The Allan Labor government is getting on with the massive task of delivering 2.24 million homes Victorians will need by 2051 as outlined in our housing statement. I am pleased to say that my agency Development Victoria is helping to deliver these homes by revitalising surplus government land to create the affordable and sustainable homes that Victorians need. Over the past two years, 44 per cent of the thousands of homes delivered by Development Victoria went to first home buyers. But we know we need to do a lot more. Over 20 residential projects are on the books, at different stages of delivery, right now. These projects will deliver thousands of homes in places like Springvale, Werribee, Epping, Altona, Ballarat and Officer, just to name a few. As our cities and communities change and grow, we need to unlock surplus government land to create entirely new integrated precincts, just like what is happening at the Fitzroy gasworks site, with a brand new public school campus and a sports centre kickstarting a new neighbourhood that will have some 1200 new homes – a minimum of 20 per cent of those being affordable. That is because we – unlike the Greens political party – know that if you actually want to build thousands more homes and not block them, you have to build more social housing.
As the Premier has mentioned today, you also have to partner with the private sector to increase the supply of homes more generally to improve affordability. This is exactly what Development Victoria has a track record of doing – delivering diverse and affordable homes in partnership with the private sector, with minimal cost to government, through the strength of its balance sheet. We know that the targets in our housing statement are ambitious, but we are determined to achieve them, because Victorians deserve nothing less.