Construction Materials

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:26): My question is again to—actually, let's swap it up—the Minister for Housing. Will South Australia have enough construction materials for major government projects and residential housing? If so, how? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia, in its case for developing a South Australian heavy construction materials plan document, said that South Australia does not have a plan for the very building blocks needed to develop housing, infrastructure and state building projects.

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION (Taylor—Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Housing Infrastructure, Minister for Planning) (14:27): One of the things we want to do in housing is build in supply. Supply is critical. Previous governments have ignored supply, and we understand that we have been left with a very big deficit.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: Actually, supply is critical. I know you don't think so.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on both sides will listen to the minister in silence.

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: We believe that the answer to the national housing crisis is a supply-side solution. That is what we believe, so we have been plugging in supply at every level we can: at the market level, market sale, for affordable rental, public housing. We believe that the most critical thing you can do to resolve the housing crisis is to answer the supply question. When you do that, industry has confidence about the future.

You heard the Premier talk about our infrastructure build. We are putting in the infrastructure of two governments in one term, because we are having to do your infrastructure on water—and you know it. We are putting in water pipes and sewer pipes and capacity in that industry that should have been put in in the previous term.

If you look at it in terms of planning, our land releases in Concordia, in Hackham, in Sellicks Beach, in Dry Creek, all of that supply could have been initiated by previous governments—it wasn't, and it is important to do. What does that supply give? It gives industry certainty and confidence to invest in the future.

What are we doing with our Renewal-led projects? If you go out to the new allotments at Playford Alive: 282 allotments out there. If you go down there you can see all of the civil works going on. If you go down to Prospect Corner, you can see all of the civil works going on. What does that do? It gives industry confidence. And what does industry do when they have confidence? They invest. And that is what meets supply. Supply equals investment, and that is why we are doing the Greater Adelaide Regional Plan, which is looking even further out and, as the Premier says, doesn't have some sort of arbitrary target on infill or greenfield, which the previous government and the one before that had.

What we are doing is setting ourselves up for growth because we know we've got a good economy. And what do good economies do? They drag in people and they drag in investment and so it's a supply-side answer. All of the nitpicking by those opposite about this is because they don't have a substantive record to fall back on and they don't have a substantive policy to look forward to, so what they are left with is the sort of nitpicking that goes on. It is extraordinary.

The Premier talked about the federal Liberal Party. Let me tell you about what the former member for Boothby, Nicolle Flint, is doing at the moment. She is out there campaigning against a housing program at Morphettville. Who initiated that code amendment? Who initiated it, who signed off on it? It was about the only thing you did in housing. The only thing the Marshall government did in housing was a code amendment in Morphettville and now the federal Liberals oppose it.