Wednesday, 4 March 2026

 Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (12:58): My question is for the Minister for Planning. When will the bushfire planning advisory committee start and finish its proceedings for the Bendigo planning scheme amendment C287? Labor’s housing policy is failing disastrously. They promised 80,000 houses a year, but they have only delivered 54,000 in the last year. Labor’s failure is especially painful in regional Victoria, where rents are rising faster than wages and pushing people into homelessness. Back in April 2025 the City of Greater Bendigo sent a request to the planning minister to authorise its managed growth strategy that would facilitate more housing. Eight months later the minister had done nothing with the request, and then on 22 December, just before Christmas, when no-one was looking, she quietly pushed it off to the bushfire advisory committee. The planning minister can find the time to approve a $1 billion data centre in just 75 days but continually delays vital planning reforms in regional cities. Only the Liberals have a real plan to deliver more homes that are more affordable and will restore the dream of home ownership in regional Victoria.