Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:00): My question today is for the Minister for Housing and Building. Minister, the Commonwealth has announced it will sell off surplus defence land, including sites in Victoria. These land parcels are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver well-designed homes with open space and supporting community infrastructure. Minister, can you confirm whether you have written to the federal minister to request that defence land being sold in Victoria be prioritised for housing including good design standards, adequate green open space and community assets like sporting fields et cetera?
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:00): Thank you very much, Dr Mansfield, for that question. Sorry, I do apologise: thank you, Ms Copsey. Apologies, Dr Mansfield, for attributing perhaps words to you in this chamber that were not your own. I want to take this opportunity in answering this question perhaps to look to the government’s work in making the most of government land and the purpose by which Development Victoria and government are doing these projects and engaging with community in order to address that unmet demand and to ensure that, as we are delivering housing and open space and as we are delivering better ways for people to be able to afford and to find a home closer to either the city or to the areas where they want to live or where they grew up, they have opportunities to do so. As the government’s property developer, Development Victoria does deliver a range of projects through that urban renewal process, and this also includes discussions on unused government land.
I have not sought any process of engagement with the Commonwealth and nor has Development Victoria in relation to unused defence land. I do want to make sure, though, that in giving you this information, I can confirm an unwavering commitment to making good use of land, and that land may often involve extensive works for remediation and decontamination. This is something, Ms Copsey, that you would absolutely be aware of in terms of an unused former defence site. The Fitzroy Gasworks is one example of the sort of work that we need to do in the rehabilitation of land before we can actually see any contemplation of housing. The Fitzroy Gasworks site, which is the site of 1200 homes, as you know – 20 per cent of which are social and affordable homes – is about making sure that we are doing so and doing so safely. Defence sites, as we know, are really, really complex sites. There is a lot of work to be done in that space, and I know that the local member has been really involved in the work around what that looks like and the impact that it will have on communities. So we will continue to do the work within Development Victoria’s remit and the priority around the portfolio to continue to deliver housing.
As part of the 2024–25 financial year, Development Victoria supported more than 5000 jobs, and the portfolios generated about a $498 million spend and investment in property development and infrastructure. There have been 142 housing sales, with 40 per cent to first home buyers and 34 per cent to those on incomes eligible for affordable housing. That site is not part of the work that Development Victoria is undertaking at this time. Our book is already full of a lot of work that is continuing. I would like to see that work go through to its logical conclusion to bring more housing and more homes to government lands as they become available.
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:03): Thanks, Ms Copsey. The answer is perhaps guided by my previous answer in respect of the work that we are doing across the inventory of unused and surplus government land. At this point in time, there is no work being undertaken by Development Victoria in respect of former defence land at the sites that you have identified. Having said that, I do want to be clear that we have a pipeline of sites that are being developed at this point in time, and that is for a mix of different housing. So going back to the earlier example that I provided you of the Fitzroy Gasworks, there will be 20 per cent affordable and social housing, and again, that is part of making sure that we are providing housing in a range of circumstances for a range of different people, including key workers, who are a focus of the affordable housing space. That is then also taking pressure off other parts of the market and bringing therefore downward pressure to bear on the private rental market, which can keep people in housing and not expose them to the vulnerabilities of social housing reliance.