Wednesday, 29 November 2023

Ministers statements: infrastructure

Colin BROOKS (Bundoora – Minister for Development Victoria, Minister for Precincts, Minister for Creative Industries) (14:26): As the Premier was just saying, building more homes is what the Allan Labor government is all about – boosting housing supply to make housing more affordable. Our ambitious housing statement brings together planning, social and affordable housing, rental settings and financial incentives to get more homes built, with a target to build 800,000 homes in the first 10 years. We will deliver many of these homes in world-class precincts, with access to jobs and transport, like Arden: 20,000 people will call the Arden precinct home once it is completed, with thousands of jobs built on the back of our investment in the Metro rail tunnel and a new hospital. Like Fishermans Bend – not the corrupt planning mess that was left to us in Fishermans Bend by those opposite but a properly planned and staged precinct. More than 4000 homes in Fishermans Bend have already been built or are under construction, and more than 30,000 will be built in the next three decades – again, built off the back of our investment in schools and transport and the innovation precinct at the old GMH site.

John Pesutto interjected.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition will come to order.

Colin BROOKS: And we are getting on with other precincts and getting them ready to go: Sunshine, East Werribee and Footscray, just to name a few. We are building the Suburban Rail Loop, delivering housing and jobs at precincts at every station, linking suburban communities with universities, jobs, schools and the airport. I acknowledge the great work of the Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop and his predecessor, who both did great jobs. We as a government know that the Suburban Rail Loop will improve the lives of millions of Victorians who live in our suburbs, because on this side of the house we do not just back our regions and the beating heart of Melbourne, we also back our suburbs. We invest in them through projects like the Suburban Rail Loop. But of course some oppose that investment in the future of our suburbs, and there is no second prize for guessing what happens to them.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, I do not want to remove you from the chamber – I ask you to come to order.