New ABS data has provided more proof that urgent reform is needed to fix Tasmania’s planning scheme that has become utterly broken after 10 years of Liberal neglect.

Just 197 dwelling units were approved in December which is the worst December result in almost a decade. In the past year there have been 401 fewer home building approvals than in the previous twelve months – a 14 per cent reduction.

Last year Labor questioning forced Minister Felix Ellis to reveal that just six houses had been built on land with “fast-tracked” approvals using Housing Supply orders. How many have been built now?

The Housing Supply Orders were introduced in 2018 to address Tasmania’s lack of housing supply, that means the Liberals haven’t even managed to build one house per year under the fast-track policy – that’s not a solution, it’s a complete failure.

It’s been close to 10 years since the Liberals promised to make planning fairer, faster, cheaper, and simpler with a singular statewide scheme. Instead, nothing has happened except the system becoming more complicated, inefficient, and out of touch with the needs of Tasmanians.

The only thing this Liberal minority government is good at building is its track record of failing to deliver.

Shane Broad MP
Shadow Minister for Housing
Shadow Minister for Planning
Shadow Minister for Building & Construction