RTI documents obtained by Labor show that a staggering 15,561 residential blocks are sitting vacant across Tasmania despite the Liberals’ promise to fix planning in Tasmania.
The Liberals made a big deal of promising a “fairer, faster, cheaper, simpler planning system” in 2014, including the introduction of a single state-wide planning scheme.
Nearly 10 years on, and in the middle of a housing crisis, Tasmanians could be forgiven for thinking nothing has changed since then.
This month’s Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that building approvals were at the lowest number in Tasmania since July 2017.
With 15,561 vacant blocks, there is so much opportunity to make a positive difference to Tasmania’s housing crisis, yet the Liberals are failing to act.
The process to develop new houses could be far easier to navigate.
Vacant land could be purchased by the Government to build social housing, or they could start building houses on the Fast Track Land Supply blocks that parliament approved from 2018.
Every week, Labor hears from groups and individuals caught up in the messy planning process the Liberals have failed to fix.
Master Builders Tasmania CEO Matthew Pollock says not enough land is being released for the builders he represents to construct the houses Tasmania so desperately needs.
A future Labor government would pull out all the stops to make use of the land available to build on in Tasmania and fix the housing crisis.
Rebecca White MP
Labor Leader
