Wednesday, 4 March 2026

 Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (17:31): I rise to speak on the Department of Transport and Planning annual report 2024–25. Page 47 of the report says that one of the department’s key initiatives is planning reforms to improve the planning system’s performance and boost housing supply. Labor’s housing statement promised that they would deliver 80,000 homes a year, but they have failed disastrously and only built 54,000 homes in the last year. Rather than improving the supply of housing, Labor’s Minister for Planning is actually holding up important planning reforms that would facilitate more housing, especially in regional Victoria. In September last year I raised two structure plans in the Macedon Ranges, the Gisborne Futures Structure Plan and the Romsey Structure Plan, which had both been sitting on the minister’s desk for over 12 months at that time, and nothing has been done to progress them forward. These are still not resolved.

At around about the same time that I was raising those two structure plans sitting on the minister’s desk the City of Greater Bendigo were actually planning their own future. In September 2024 the City of Greater Bendigo councillors passed a motion agreeing to prepare amendment C287 to the Greater Bendigo planning scheme in order to give effect to their Managed Growth Strategy and housing and neighbourhood character strategy. Councillors also agreed to write to the planning minister requesting authorisation to prepare and exhibit the proposed amendment, which they did on 1 April 2025. Two weeks later the planning department wrote back to the council saying that a further review was required. But then there was silence as a written request for authorisation sat on the planning minister’s desk for almost eight months with no action being taken in the middle of a housing crisis.

Labor’s failure is especially painful in regional Victoria, where rents are rising faster than wages and pushing people into homelessness. The state Labor government has imposed a housing target of 37,000 new homes for Greater Bendigo, and the city is eager to facilitate an increase in the supply of housing. The City of Greater Bendigo is taking steps to responsibly meet its housing target and, following extensive consultation with the community, produced the Managed Growth Strategy. The strategy is important for planning and orderly release of additional land for housing and development whilst preserving heritage, amenity and neighbourhood character in their beautiful gold rush city. But eight months after sending their proposal to the planning minister for changes, there has been no progress at all.

Then, in December 2025, just days before Christmas, when no-one was paying attention, the planning minister quietly handballed the planning amendments to a bushfire planning advisory committee. The minister has asked the committee to provide its report no later than 40 business days from the last day of its proceedings, but we have no idea when those proceedings will start or finish. The planning minister can find the time to approve a billion-dollar data centre in just 75 days but continually delays vital planning reforms in regional cities. I have asked the minister to confirm when the proceedings will begin and end, because we cannot allow this lazy, incompetent Labor government to continue blocking essential planning reforms in regional Victoria. Only the Liberals have a real plan to deliver more homes that are more affordable and to restore the dream of home ownership to people living in regional Victoria.