A Labor government I lead will give our housing sector the Fresh Start it needs after 11 years of a Liberal Government.

Under the Liberals, the average time taken to build a house in Tasmania has increased by nearly 50 per cent. Housing approvals are at the lowest level since 2016.

Labor will do things differently.

Working with builders and planners, a Labor government will set a target to reverse this increase by slashing development rules, with the aim of cutting the size of the rules in half.

As first steps, we will:

• Release a monthly planning dashboard that compares council performance on planning and development approvals, so we can see exactly where the problems are and fix them
• Remove unnecessary complications, discretion triggers and endless or unclear requests for information
• Review the process for appealing requests for information and make sure councils are held to account 
• Clarify and simplify what is required to submit a development application, and sign off more as part of building applications

The Liberals promised “faster, fairer, cheaper, simpler” planning rules for development with a single statewide planning scheme.

11 years later, ask any builder, or anyone who’s tried to build their own home, and they’ll tell you it’s worse than ever. 

According to the Housing Industry Association’s latest Housing Scorecard, Tasmania is lagging behind the rest of the nation when it comes to new housing builds, with fresh rankings placing the state at the bottom of the pile.

Tasmania has a lack of new home building work entering the pipeline, one of the “weaker” renovations markets in the country, and the “weakest” multi-units sector.

There are simply too many delays, too much red tape, and too many unnecessary hurdles to jump over.

To get more homes built for young people, it’s time for a Fresh Start. 

Dean Winter MP
Labor Leader