Victoria teal MPs raise concerns over high rises with Premier Jacinta Allan

Zoe Daniel and Monique Ryan have criticised key aspects of Premier Jacinta Allan’s plan to tackle Victoria’s housing crisis by building high rise towers in the suburbs.

Independent Teal MP Zoe Daniel has raised concerns with the Victorian Government’s plan for high rise suburban towers. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman.

Victorian teal MPs have strongly criticised key aspects of Premier Jacinta Allan’s plan for high-rise towers in Melbourne suburbs, with the federal member for Goldstein, Zoe Daniel, warning “crash or crash through” policies will not fix the housing crisis.

Just two days after Ms Allan triggered an angry community protest by announcing the controversial suburban towers plan in Brighton, which sits within Ms Daniel’s electorate, the teal MP said Labor’s plan did not “cut it”.

“The way not to do it is by ­simply announcing a scheme for large, high-density builds without consulting affected communities on how you plan to ensure that there will be the schools, roads, medical care and other resources required to service a growing community,” Ms Daniel told The Australian on Tuesday.

“‘Crash through or crash’ is not a sustainable housing policy. We need our communities to be part of the solution to this problem, not living in fear of it.”

On Sunday, Ms Allan announced the first 25 locations for 50 “train and tram zone activity centres”, which aim to address Victoria’s housing crisis by ­delivering new homes in developments reportedly up to 20 storeys near public transport across ­Melbourne.

The developments will primarily be located in inner-east and southeast suburbs, including Brighton, Hampton and Sandringham within Ms Daniel’s electorate, as well as Toorak, ­Armadale, Malvern and Hawthorn within fellow federal Teal MP Monique Ryan’s seat of Kooyong. Dr Ryan questioned the reasoning behind the government’s choice of locations.

“Nine of the 25 new activity zones will be in my electorate and the Premier has said these zones are ripe for development because they’ve benefited from level crossing removals,” Dr Ryan said.

“That is not the case. Removal of the Glenferrie Road, Kooyong, and Tooronga Road, Malvern, level crossings must be a part of these major housing developments in our electorate.”

Independent Teal MP Dr Monique Ryan has raised concerns with the plan. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Both independent MPs identified housing as an issue. Dr Ryan said all three levels of government needed to work together to solve the “serious housing crisis” following “30 years of massive ­underinvestment by both major parties”.

“Many people in my community are really worried about the housing crisis – but also about how these proposals could impact them, which I fully understand,” Dr Ryan said.

“As the federal member for Kooyong, I will use every bit of my power to push for massive ­federal investment in transport infrastructure, including removal of these level crossings, plenty of off-street parking, EV infrastructure, and consideration of green spaces and heritage concerns. These projects must have proper investment, adequate community consultation, and beautiful design that fits our local communities.”

Ms Daniel said governments needed to find “affordable, innovative, sustainable, and effective ways to build higher density house stock” in communities to get on top of the housing crisis.

“If we are serious about ­tackling Australia’s housing crisis we need to make a concerted ­effort to address the intergenerational inequity that the failed housing policies of successive governments at all levels is leaving for our kids and our communities,” Ms Daniel said.

“That includes in Goldstein, where I’ve heard countless stories from constituents about the ­challenges they have faced trying to buy their first home, pay the rent, or simply finding a place to live.”

Both MPs had previously pushed for more affordable housing. Dr Ryan said this month the housing crisis could only be ­addressed by “sweeping reform, not by Band-Aid solutions”.

Liberal Brighton MP James Newbury was among the protesters in Brighton on Sunday. Picture: NewsWire / Nadir Kinani

“A whole generation of Australians is losing hope of ever being able to afford their own home,” Dr Ryan said.

“Major parties need to stop tinkering on the margins of this problem and bickering for political points. They need to get on with the job of making housing affordable for all Australians.”

In a post to her Facebook page on October 1, Dr Ryan said her community was “very supportive of the need for more affordable homes in our suburbs” but that the state government needed to consult “more transparently and effectively”.

Ms Daniel had also raised affordable housing as an issue, particularly for women.

“Older women are at greater risk of homelessness than any other group,” Ms Daniel said in parliament in February last year.

“Young, low-income and ­single people, especially older women, struggle to enter the ­market.”

In Brighton on Sunday, about 100 residents, alongside state ­Liberal MP James Newbury, voiced their opposition to the government’s plan, chanting “shame, Premier, shame,” outside Ms Allan’s press conference.

In a post on X, Mr Newbury said Ms Allan was putting “nasty politics ahead of good planning”.

When asked to confirm the height of the new buildings on Sunday, Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny refused to rule out 20-storey developments but said there would be community consultation before they were built.