Friday, 14 November 2025

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:52): My matter for constituency questions today is for the Minister for Planning. I am in receipt of communication from local councils, including Stonnington and others, but I am going to focus on the Whitehorse council correspondence today. I ask the minister to respond directly to the council but to make those responses public. Whitehorse writes, in a letter dated 11 November:

In summary, we do not support the expansion of deemed-to-comply, code-assessed provisions for buildings of four to six storeys in height and the subsequent degradation of neighbourhood character without strategic justification; the draft standards being applied to all residential zones; the removal of third-party appeal rights for this building typology, where standards are met; the lack of community and local government engagement in draft standards; and the dilution of current and future strategic work.

Again, this is part of the government’s grab for power, its authoritarian approach, which is overwhelming local communities and councils. I ask the minister to desist but to respond to the council in detail and make that public.

Sitting suspended 12:53 pm until 2:02 pm.