House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-06-26 Daily Xml

Contents

Question Time

Housing Supply

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:05): My question is to the Premier. How many houses will be complete on the government-released land sites by the 2026 state election?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:05): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question, which of course relates to housing policy and the effort that the government is making to address housing supply. As the Leader of the Opposition is well aware, this government isn't just committed to dramatically increasing housing supply but we are actually doing it. We are actually doing it. When you drive around metropolitan Adelaide and also regional South Australia, you will see thousands—thousands—of blocks currently under construction, in no small part because of the policies that we have instituted.

To which policies do we refer, Mr Speaker? A range of policies, many of which of course have been opposed by those opposite. This is a government that is putting huge amounts of water infrastructure in the ground as we speak, pipes that are the size that we have not seen installed in South Australia for literally decades, in some instances, going in the ground, making sure that we are delivering the water connections to allotments and greenfield areas that simply need water to be able to commence construction. As a result of that effort, in conjunction with tax cuts, like providing first-home buyers total 100 per cent stamp duty relief if they are building a new home, in conjunction with—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The Leader of the Opposition says, 'What about existing?' And the member for Chaffey also interjects, always a welcome contribution from the member for Unley or the member for Chaffey, when they interject, 'What about existing?' The point is, they are existing. If it's an existing home, it's not a new home. And if it's not a new home, it's not increasing supply. Those opposite have a policy to make sure that existing homes remain existing—congratulations. We have a policy to actually develop new homes for new supply, and that's what makes a difference to the housing market, that's what makes a difference for new homebuyers.

When you add up our policy effort on land releases, water infrastructure and tax abolition, and when you add up what we are doing on planning reform, what do we get? We get the Business Council of Australia saying South Australia is number one in terms of policy, you get the Housing Industry Association of Australia saying number one state in the country in terms of policy: South Australia. And then what do you do, what do you get when the policy is right? You get more homes, which is exactly why the Australian Bureau of Statistics in report after report, independently verified by the government, say the fastest-growing level of supply in the nation in housing supply—South Australia, number one: number one in commencements, number one in completions, number one in houses under construction. We are delivering more homes.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The member for Chaffey asks, 'How many?' Get your phone out, look up the Australian Bureau of Statistics and you will see how many homes—over 10,000 homes coming out of the system, a dramatically increasing supply. While those opposite sit around and formulate a way to destroy your budget credibility to create an in excess of half a billion dollars black hole in the budget, and while you work out how to do the budget harm without delivering one extra home, we are making sure we are delivering budget surpluses and a lot more homes with it.

The SPEAKER: I just remind everyone on both sides—

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Unley! I just remind members on both sides that interjections are unparliamentary. That got very rowdy, that answer to the first question of the day. Let's see if we can be a little quieter for the remaining 56 minutes.