Rockliff government claims its acting on housing crisis, which Greens dispute

Tasmanian Greens are urging for immediate action on short-stay accommodation, but the state government says the balance is right, while defending the number of new home builds.

Felix Ellis, Minister for Housing and Planning, Simon Behrakis, Parliamentary Secretary for Housing and Planning, Damian Liberatore, NEX Building Group. State government spruiks its housing policies. Picture: Supplied

The number of new houses the government is building to tackle the rental crisis is “being fudged”, Greens MP Vica Bayley says as he urges immediate action on short-stay accommodation.

“Stop the bleed of taking whole home rentals out of the rental market, meanwhile governments need to be funding and getting on the job of building whole houses,” Mr Bayley said.

Greens deputy leader Vica Bayley.

Housing Minister Felix Ellis said short-stay accommodation played a key role in the state’s economy, saying who could begrudge an older woman renting out a room in their home to tourists, and families who rent out their shacks.

“We get the balance right here in Tasmania,” Mr Ellis said on short-stay accommodation.

He said more than 4000 of the target to build 10,000 social and affordable housing by 2032 had been completed, with 800 more in the pipeline. The goal was first announced in 2022 by then-premier Peter Gutwein.

Those numbers, his Greens counterpart claimed had been “fudged” because they included “crisis accommodation, vacant land and affordable rentals built into it to make up the numbers”.

“The reality is the government needs to put in more focus into building more houses and helping renters,” Mr Bayley said.

Housing Minister Felix Ellis with tradie. State government spruiks its housing policies. Picture: Supplied

Labor also piled onto the governments lack of “fast-tracked” housing builds as Labor MP Luke Edmunds said land in Warrane earmarked for housing three years ago still sat empty.

“This is emblematic of a complete failure to deliver by the Liberal Government, with its latest update last year showing that it had only built six houses on land with “fast-tracked” approvals in place statewide,” Mr Edmunds said.

Mr Ellis said the state government had worked on a suite of housing and planning reforms would speed-up home builds and projects across the state to be “faster than ever”.

“Our Liberal Government has laid the foundations for Tasmania’s future, and we will keep building, day by day, brick by brick,” Mr Ellis said.

Two key schemes include MyHome Program, helping homebuyers with 2 per cent deposit to purchase property, and waiving stamp duty for new home buyers, which Premier Jeremy Rockliff says hundreds have used.

NEX Building Group Damian Liberatore welcomed any planning reform, specifically cutting red tape to get to the site faster.

He said it was expensive to build in Tasmania and by following other states in self-certification, it would speed up construction.

The shifting goalposts between different councils’ planning requirements was also singled out as an issue facing the industry by Mr Liberatore.

Originally published as Rockliff government claims its acting on housing crisis, which Greens dispute