Federal Government and Coalition fight over who is doing more to unlock new housing

October 20

A political stoush has broken out over whether the Commonwealth is already funding infrastructure needed to unlock sites for new homes as the housing battleground takes shape ahead of the Federal election.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton used a visit to Perth to announce a government under him would offer $5 billion to councils and developers to build the roads, water, power and other infrastructure needed to make new developments happen.

The policy would dole out the money over five years, with strict use-it-or-lose-it terms put in place to make sure the infrastructure is built within 12 months of being funded.

But cabinet minister Murray Watt said the plan was “pretty much exactly the same plan” as the Labor Government’s, pointing to its $1.5 billion housing support program.

“It’s pretty revealing that after all of this time, the only plan that Peter Dutton has put forward is pretty much exactly the same plan that we’ve had operating for months,” cabinet minister Murray Watt told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday.

“I don’t think people really care whether the money is directed through states, territories, local governments or private developers, they just want to see that work done.”

Under the Government’s plan, $1 billion has been given to the State and Territory governments — $105 million of it to WA — who have to promise to spend the money by mid-2026 on enabling infrastructure and building new social housing.

Government sources say most of the States have given the Commonwealth their plans for how they will spend that money and these will be made public over coming months.

A further $450 million is now being allocated to local councils and state governments for road and public transport upgrades, utilities or community services such as parks and public libraries.

The rest of the money has already gone to local councils to increase their “human infrastructure” and speed up planning approval times.

However, shadow finance minister Jane Hume claims the money has “gone to the states and stalled” rather than being spent on “shovel-ready projects”.

“This is the bottleneck — that enabling infrastructure on greenfields and brownfields sites will make those new home builds a reality and will make it affordable for all new Australians to get out there and buy their first home,” she told Sky News.

The Government has also pointed to the Coalition’s opposition to the Housing Australia Future Fund and other planks of its housing platform, saying Mr Dutton would rip away $19 billion in funding to actually get homes built.

Senator Hume returned fire, pointing out the trend in new construction meant the government would fall well short of its target to build 1.2 million new homes.

“The $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund is actually yet to produce a single house, and yet it’s costing Australians so much to borrow that money,” she said.

The HAFF started operation months later than intended after the Coalition and Greens held up its passage through the Senate, and only disbursed its first round of funding in September.

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