Housing Roadmap

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (14:33): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier update the house on the progress of the Malinauskas government's Housing Roadmap?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:33): I thank the member for Elizabeth for his question. The member for Elizabeth lives in the northern suburbs of Adelaide and appreciates the demand for housing in the northern suburbs of our city along with the rest of the state.

The opposition have asked a few questions related to cost of living and inflation and they would appreciate, as all members would appreciate, that the single biggest contributor to inflation in a South Australian context—and I think this is true also for a national context—is what we have seen happen to house prices. Rents have gone up at an extraordinary pace throughout the country and South Australia is no exception, particularly as we see strong economic growth relative to other parts of the nation. We haven't seen housing supply keeping pace with that.

There are a number of reasons why that has occurred, and what this government is doing is working at warp speed to address all of the individual challenges that collectively have slowed housing supply. This matters not just economically but for people and we particularly think about younger South Australians.

Housing forms an important component of social policy. Young people who would otherwise feel disenfranchised with politics or other institutions at the moment should not be denied the legitimate aspiration of being able to own their own home, so we have to increase housing supply. To that end, we have been grateful not just for the policies that we have introduced but for some evidence from independent sources that suggests that South Australia is outperforming the rest of the country when it comes to new home starts.

We see the ANZ Stateometer point to this and the Commonwealth Bank State of the States Report makes clear that housing construction in South Australia is one of our key strengths. We have also seen the BCA, the Business Council of Australia, endorse South Australian government policy in a number of different areas. Most recently, in the June quarter, we saw the total value of residential construction work in South Australia grow by 7.5 per cent and it was up 11.5 per cent over the past 12 months. The good news about that is that it's the fastest in the nation—the fastest in the nation.

Growth rates are the strongest in the nation, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Why would this be true? Well, we have a government that has delivered the biggest land release in the history of the state. We have a government that has not reduced stamp duty but abolished stamp duty for first home buyers who engage in new builds regardless of the cost of the home. We have a government that is addressing the major water infrastructure challenge that we have for a $1.5 billion investment in water infrastructure.

How does that compare to the time that those opposite were in charge? In the last four years, we have seen I think somewhere in the order of a $170 million investment in new trunk critical water infrastructure. This government—$1.5 billion. So it's these policies combined that demonstrate that you can make a difference at a state level and you can aspire to be the best in the nation, which is what South Australia now is. But we know there is still more work to be done. We know that when it comes to housing policy there is a lag time sometimes between decisions and getting the outcomes we desire, but we are making the decisions. We are taking the actions because we care about young people owning a home in the state of South Australia.