Revealed: Expert panel to combat Qld housing crisis expanded

Deputy Premier Steven Miles has revealed the line-up of an expanded expert panel on housing that will be responsible for finding ways to solve the state’s housing crisis.

The Palaszczuk government has announced the line-up of an expanded expert panel on housing that will be responsible for finding ways to unlock supply in a bid to address Queensland’s housing crisis.

Deputy Premier and State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Minister Steven Miles said the panel would now go beyond the southeast to also explore how the state government could tackle housing issues across all of Queensland.

The expert panel will look at ways to shake up local planning schemes and change state government policies to boost housing supply and deliver more affordable homes. The panel used to have nine members but will be expanded to 12 – featuring experts in urban planning, real estate, property development, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing.

State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Minister Steven Miles. Picture: John Gass

“The panel will provide us with ongoing advice about market activity, about stock in the private sector, in social and affordable housing, as well as in public housing,” Mr Miles said.

One of the new panel appointees, Guy Gibson, said it was now widely acknowledged that there was a “severe shortage” of housing across the state.

“We need to identify ways that we can promote more diversity of housing, more adequate supplies of housing to meet demand … and improve affordability of housing,” he said.

“The problems that we’ve got in the housing system are quite widespread.

“So in addition to providing more available land for new family housing in new suburbs … we also need to identify ways of unlocking the existing potential that we’ve got in established urban areas.”

Guy Gibson will be on the expert panel. Picture: John Gass

The state government held a landmark Housing Summit in October following The Courier-Mail’s Hitting Home series.

Meanwhile, Mr Miles announced the proposed names for the first five suburbs of the new Caboolture West development, with consultation to be under way until February 3.

The new suburb names include Lilywood, Wagtail Grove, Greenstone, Corymbia, and Waraba – which is the Kabi Kabi word for “burn”.

“They (the suburb names) are based on the wildlife, plants, and rocks of Caboolture West,” the Deputy Premier said.

“Over the next 40 years Caboolture West will develop to be the size of a regional city ultimately accommodating 70,000 residents.”