A Regional Affordable Housing Summit is cold comfort to people struggling to find a place to live and businesses unable to recruit new staff in regional areas.
This is not a problem that appeared overnight. It’s the result of poor planning from the Andrews Labor Government, and new parcels of land getting tied up in Labor’s red tape.
In 2021 we saw house prices rise by 21 per cent and only now Labor is speaking about ways to deliver affordable housing through a Regional Affordable Housing Summit.
This is typical from a Government that is more focused on spin than addressing the real issues affecting regional Victoria.
Rural Councils Victoria sounded the alarm bells in its Rural Victoria Housing Blueprint released in December 2021, which found regional Victoria will need 87,000 new dwellings over the next 15 years.
A failure to do so could mean regional Victoria loses an annual Gross Regional Product of between $200 million to $1 billion with agriculture, manufacturing, education, forestry and construction the worst hit sectors.
Rather than talk, the Liberals and Nationals are taking action. Labor has shown time and time again that it is only concerned with currying favour with city voters.
To address the Labor-made housing crisis, the Liberals and Nationals will deliver 50,000 new lots of land across rural and regional Victoria within two years with a new planning flying squad to help local councils fast-track planning approvals.
This ‘crisis’ is the result of years of neglect toward regional Victoria by the Andrews Labor Government.
Only a change in Government this November will deliver more affordable housing in regional Victoria.
