Native Vegetation

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (14:51): My question is to the Minister for Housing. Could the minister please inform the house what is the government doing to remove impediments to help address the state housing shortage? With the leave of the house, and the leave of you, Mr Speaker, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr McBRIDE: Earlier today, we heard that there is a review on native vegetation. As I explained, I have taken a number of constituent inquiries about native vegetation impeding housing development, and I am just wondering whether the minister is going to make a submission to the Native Vegetation Act review.

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION (Taylor—Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Housing Infrastructure, Minister for Planning) (14:52): I don't intend to make a submission, but I do think that as part of the regional plans—and at the moment we are preparing various regional plans; the State Planning Commission is working with local communities to do that—the first one that has gone out for public consultation is the plan for Kangaroo Island, and I know the Speaker will be very interested in that. Some of these issues regarding native vegetation in townships will be addressed by those regional plans.

I think the most appropriate thing to do is if there is a conflict between zoning and native vegetation, then it might be a better approach to review the zoning than it is to—

Mr Telfer: It's not the zoning that is the issue; it's the legislation.

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: Well, that's your opinion. We don't deal with opinions.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: Thanks for the interjection, but maybe you should listen.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: Maybe you should listen to my answer.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: I am trying to answer the member for MacKillop's question, and you are just launching your own opinions across the chamber.

Mr Telfer: I am just trying to help.

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: I ask the Speaker for a bit of protection. The plans for regional areas will be undertaken. Local communities are involved in that in a very serious way. They all go out to consultation. It might be more appropriate to look at the boundaries of townships to provide additional housing supply rather than to have this conflict between native vegetation and housing supply. I think we need to look at what the local community needs, and make sure that the right infrastructure is in place and the right arrangements are in place while protecting native vegetation as well because, as the Deputy Premier outlined, that is very important, and particularly remnant vegetation for wildlife and the like.

I don't think there necessarily needs to be a conflict. What there does need to be is recognition in the planning system that (a) you need enough land for housing supply but (b) we often have native vegetation which is in these townships as well, which needs to be appropriately accommodated. In terms of developers having certainty, it would be better, I think, if native vegetation could not and should not be removed, to then look at the zoning, because what we do need to do is provide certainty to both towns and developers about which land can be appropriately developed for housing and which land can't.