We must keep on backing big ideas

To fix Sydney’s housing crisis we need to be ambitious and not be scared to draw the ire of NIMBYs, writes Premier Chris Minns.

I’m obviously disappointed that the proposal to build 25,000 new homes at Rosehill was voted down on Tuesday.

This was always a decision for the Australian Turf Club and I respect the outcome. But I don’t regret supporting a project for more housing in Sydney, which this city desperately needs.

The truth is, putting up an idea like this was always going to be a big gamble. And sometimes in life, the big gamble doesn’t come off.

But that’s not a reason to run away from the housing challenge, or to avoid these kind of big ideas in the future.

One of the reasons our housing situation has gotten so bad is that governments have been too scared to take risks on housing because of the backlash from NIMBY groups.

A city pays a price for that kind of timidity. And in Sydney, that price is being paid by our young people.

NSW Premier Chris Minns responds to the vote to reject the offer to sell Rosehill Racecourse. Picture: Elizabeth Pike.

With that in mind, hats off to Peter McGauran and Peter V’Landys.

Peter McGauran had a crack, and I will always respect him for it. We need more people bowling up ideas and trying to get things done for the city, not less.

I didn’t know Peter V’Landys very well before I became Premier, but he’s a do-er. He’s someone who grabs initiatives and pursues them. I think Sydney could do with 10 Peter V’Landys rather than one. We would be a more exciting, more dynamic city as a result.

If you try anything difficult, failure is always a possibility. But the lesson should never be ‘don’t try, because you might not succeed in the end’.

When it comes to housing, we have to take the opposite lesson: that we can’t give up, that we have to keep taking risks, to give our kids a future in this city.

As everybody knows, in the second most expensive city on Earth, the one thing we need is more housing. Victoria and Queensland have been outbuilding us for decades. And we are now losing twice as many young people as we are getting back in return every year.

In order to get the ball rolling, we have to take some chances.

That’s why we changed the rules, to build thousands of new homes around train stations. It’s why we backed this up with the biggest government housing build in New South Wales. It’s why we established the Housing Delivery Authority, which has already approved 45,200 for our development pathway.

Punters enjoying the action at Rosehill Racecourse. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

And ultimately, it’s why we said this proposed new suburb of housing in Rosehill was a one in a generation opportunity.

If the charge is that we were too bold, I have no problem with that.

This was a rare opportunity to build on top of the new metro line. It would have given tens of thousands of people a well-located home in the heart of Sydney. I still think it was a good idea, with a good motivation.

And if I had my time again, I’d back it in just as fiercely.

We will keep supporting big bold solutions for housing. We will keep our foot on the accelerator.