Senator Andrew Bragg
Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness
Shadow Minister for the Environment
Liberal Senator for New South Wales
STATEMENT
It has been 215 days since Labor held its economic reform roundtable. At the conclusion of the meeting, Labor promised to cut red tape from housing.
Treasurer Chalmers “asked Clare O’Neil to see where we can reduce complexity and red tape in the National Construction Code….we’ve asked Clare to do that work relatively swiftly.”
They promised to cut the National Construction Code fast, which has made new home building impractical and unaffordable for Australians on average incomes. It has also blown out construction times.
This is a sham. Labor’s done nothing and has failed to cut red tape in housing.
The Coalition will now reassume the leadership of the nation's housing policy and will seek to cut housing red tape in a tangible way.
Accordingly, the Senate Select Committee on Productivity is seeking specific feedback on ways to cut red tape in housing.
We start from the basis that the 2,000 plus-page code should be cut by at least two-thirds.
Surely, in the age of artificial intelligence, we can cut the backside out of this ridiculous, ugly code, which is undermining home ownership. We can make it easier and faster to comply with the code.
If people want to buy a cheap house, they should be able to buy a cheap house.
Submissions remain open, and we will move to public hearings next month.