Housing Construction

Mr BROWN (Florey) (16:33): My question is to the Premier. What action is the government taking to help South Australians build homes faster?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (16:33): I want to thank the member for Florey for his question. The member for Florey represents a community that is growing. As a function of that growth—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: You were there. As a function of that growth, the member for Florey is well aware that there is a great degree of pressure in the housing market in his electorate, as there is throughout the state. That pressure isn't just reflected on people seeking to purchase a home, best represented by first-home buyers, but is also represented by people renting. The average rent in South Australia has increased by $180 per week—per week—in less than a four-year period. That is an astronomical escalation. House price growth in the state of South Australia is exceeding the rest of the country. While that is desirable in some respects, it is very undesirable for those people who want to enter the housing market and those people who are renters.

As a result, on Tuesday the state government announced our Housing Roadmap. This has been a very substantial piece of policy work contributed to frankly by all members of the government and the cabinet. Put simply, there are a number of announcements we made, none more significant than the $1.5 billion investment we are introducing into water infrastructure which eclipses the size of investment in this infrastructure that we have seen by the former government and the government before that.

Beyond the water investment, which has been well publicised through the media, there have also been substantial changes that we have made in a regulatory sense and in a process sense. We are expediting and truncating the code amendment process and the land division process. Land divisions and code amendments collectively chew up a very substantial period of time, often up to two years in the process of getting houses to the market. Through the work that has been done by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, we have been able to expedite that and literally take—

Mr Telfer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Flinders!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —12 to 18 months—

Mr Telfer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Flinders! I am trying to hear the Premier and I can't with your constant chatter. The Premier.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. The planning reforms that we are making on land division and code amendments will cut the process by at least six to 12 months on code amendments and more again on land divisions. We are unapologetic about putting the blowtorch—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer! Can everyone just be quiet on both sides so that the rest of us can hear the Premier. Thank you.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: We are also, in addition to this, putting the blowtorch on councils—metaphorically, of course—to expedite their exercise. If they don't make certain decisions by certain times according to the new timelines that the government will put in place, then the state government will have the authority and the power to intervene and make decisions on behalf of councils, which is all about getting land and allotments with water connected to the market as quickly as possible.

I want to take the opportunity to thank industry partners who have worked with the government in the deliberation of the policy, specifically Will Frogley from Master Builders SA, Rebecca Pickering from the Civil Contractors Federation, Stephen Knight from the HIA, Bruce Djite from the Property Council and Liam Golding from the UDIA. I won't read out the comments that they have made regarding the road map, but needless to say I think industry is very supportive of now having a plan that is funded to make sure we get more homes into the market.

While we are talking about houses and homes, it is important to remember that we are really talking about people and having the ability to have a decent standard of living in a state that can provide for it.