Housing Development

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (14:07): My question is to the Minister for Planning. Can the minister update the house on what the government is doing to increase quality housing choice in South Australia?

Mr Pengilly: Chairman Rau.

The SPEAKER: The member for Finniss is warned. I notice that the member for Hartley has been called to order and warned in an earlier session of the parliament; therefore, he is on his final warning. Chairman Rau.

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:07): Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can I say, Mr Speaker, I simply advise you in waking a tiger to use a long stick. Our state's planning system has been undergoing an extensive process of reform. With the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act, we are now in the implementation phase of these important reforms. This involves the environment and food production areas and the elevation of design, through the introduction of design principles, and recognition of the add-value role that design review plays.

There are two key areas of reforms introduced through the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act that will help increase quality housing choices in South Australia. Currently, approximately 28 per cent of our households in South Australia are single-person households and 34 per cent are two-person households. By contrast, however, 51 per cent of our housing in South Australia is three-bedroom homes. We currently lack the housing choice to meet demand.

Mr Griffiths interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: It's coming very soon. It's going to be good. In this context, the environment and food production areas prioritise our vital food bowl, environmental resources and unique landscapes over unwarranted urban sprawl and thereby guide our future urban form, and it encourages new development within our inner and middle suburbs—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: —where the majority of South Australians prefer to live, conveniently located near more jobs, services and amenities, and which costs substantially less to taxpayers in terms of infrastructure provision.

A better focus on design is also crucial in how we achieve better development, and that is why we continue to take steps to embed principles of good design in the planning process. Led at higher levels, state planning policies, in particular a design quality policy, will ensure good design is at the forefront of planning decisions and will be embedded by higher density design guidelines developed by the Office for Design and Architecture and the South Australian Government Architect. I also expect to be consulting on those guidelines, along with the update to our 30-Year Plan, in coming months.

The guidelines will showcase how medium and higher density urban development can help create desirable neighbourhoods and streetscapes, particularly in respect of the interface between development and our local heritage and character areas. These reforms help frame the way we want Adelaide to grow in the future and respond to opportunities presented by our ageing population, changing household sizes and composition, and ensuring we improve our competitiveness as an attractive place for people to live and work.

The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Morialta and Hammond, and I warn for the first time the members for Chaffey and Goyder. I alert the member for Mitchell that, owing to warnings before lunch, he is on his final warning. The member for Colton is also on a warning, upgraded from a call to order.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: It will make not the slightest difference. Leader.