The Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA WA) says the establishment of a new ‘2050 Commission’ announced by the Premier today, is a promising step toward driving a longer term reform agenda to safeguard the State’s future growth and prosperity.
“The establishment of the 2025 Commission shows the Cook Government is thinking about the bigger picture and looking at how we can improve productivity across a range of key industries,” UDIA WA CEO Tanya Steinbeck said.
“It is promising to see the State Government committing to action beyond four-year election cycles and taking a future focused approach to ensuring the industries underpinning the State’s economy remain productive and competitive in the long term,” Ms Steinbeck said.
Ms Steinbeck says that replacing Infrastructure WA (IWA) with a broader Commission provides more scope to drive coordinated action across government departments and sectors to conduct inquiries and pinpoint where and how efficiencies and real reform can be achieved.
While the establishment of the Commission is promising, Ms Steinbeck warns that the devil remains in the detail that is yet to be released and effective execution of the functions of the Commission as a statutory authority will be key.
“In time, we will need to understand more fully how elements like the Industry Development Action Plans will be developed and implemented, and which industries will get the focus,” Ms Steinbeck said.
“Housing supply and affordability is a foundational component of our state’s future productivity and economic growth, as well as for liveability,” Ms Steinbeck said.
“Therefore, it will be imperative that housing is a significant focus of the new Commission, with an eye to key reforms that will facilitate the sustainable supply of diverse housing options,” Ms Steinbeck said.
Ms Steinbeck also advises that the Government needs to provide clarity of function and execution for the new body.
“When IWA was conceived and initiated, everyone had great expectations for its functions improving strategic infrastructure planning, coordination and decision-making outcomes but execution proved challenging,” Ms Steinbeck said.
“It will be important to ensure the Commission is appropriately set up and empowered to effectively deliver on its remit.”
While the new Commission could make a real difference in the medium to longer term picture for housing supply and affordability, Ms Steinbeck says the Government also needs to remain focused on critical short-term issues in relation to housing supply.
“The longer-term reform is critical, but we still need to look at unlocking much needed housing supply as quickly as possible,” Ms Steinbeck said.
“In terms of critical issues such as the delivery of enabling infrastructure to support new housing, we need the government to remain laser focused on those types of issues as well,” Ms Steinbeck said.
UDIA WA has made a Pre-Budget Submission that outlines a range of key asks for the upcoming State Budget, that will help facilitate more homes on the ground, faster.
“UDIA WA looks forward to continuing our positive collaboration with the Cook Government on both short and long term solutions to the state’s housing supply challenges.”