Housing will dominate discussion at the Economic Reform Roundtable this morning, with ministers, business leaders and conservationists all under pressure to solve the wicked problem of building more homes without trashing the environment. Source: ABC News.
Productivity commissioner Danielle Wood, who will open the session, titled: Better Regulation and Approvals, is expected to explain to attendees that environmental approvals are one of the biggest handbrakes on housing.
The focus has again turned to aging environmental laws that both the former Morrison government and the Albanese Government last term failed to reform.
Under current laws, new developments only need federal approval if they are likely to damage the environment, harm threatened species or affect culturally sensitive land.
That means only a fraction of projects fall within the Commonwealth’s remit.
But ABC News understands that even within that smaller pool, there is still a backlog of 30,000 projects, including many of industry’s largest proposals, and plenty of room to speed up approvals.
Both Environment Minister Murray Watt and Housing Minister Clare O’Neil will be at the forum today, searching for the balance between protecting the environment and delivering homes faster.
Ms Wood on Monday pointed out that housing approval times had blown out 50 per cent in the past three decades due to regulation. It means “hard conversations” are unavoidable, including about heritage and density restrictions.
Behind closed doors, Labor MPs admit the scale of the problem. Treasury documents show the Government is not on track to meet its election pledge of building 1.2 million homes in five years.
Senator Watt has been consulting for months with miners, developers, business groups and conservationists on reforms to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act he hopes to legislate by mid-next year after two previous terms of government failed.
A consistent complaint of the current system is duplication. Projects require the sign off of both state and federal departments, with the federal process not beginning until state or territory approval is given.
Stakeholders agree more housing is needed and that Australia’s environmental laws are outdated. The sticking point is how far each side is willing to compromise.
FULL STORY
Productivity summit turns to building homes, with warnings housing targets will not be met (ABC News)
