2023-05-02
By Hon Brad Pettitt, MLC, Member for South Metropolitan
With three back-to-back Parliamentary sitting weeks my team and I have been heavily engaged on a big range of issues affecting the WA community. I’ve been pursuing the State Government with Parliamentary Questions and in the Estimates Committee on everything from the housing and homelessness crisis to threatened and ongoing bush clearing. I also tabled a number of petitions, met with fellow Greens in Denmark, attended community events and rallies and kept working on our Net Zero Perth plan.
Housing Now!
It was great to have officially launched the Greens (WA) Housing Now! Community Campaign with Australian Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather joining us live from Brisbane. I gave a presentation on some of the short and long-term solutions that the WA State Government can get on with to address the housing crisis, including reasonable rent controls, returning short-term rentals (like Airbnbs) to the long-term rental market, incentives to start filling the more than 118,000 empty homes in WA, expanding the National Rental Affordability Scheme, and so much more. There was a massive turnout at the launch and so many new faces in the audience. It’s so great to see our movement growing!
Housing has been a big focus for us as the housing and homelessness crisis continues to impact record numbers of vulnerable West Australian, exacerbated by years of the major parties demolishing and selling, rather than investing in public housing.
Along with my federal colleagues and dedicated Greens I’ve been doorknocking in Freo and in the Housing Minister’s North Perth seat to talk to residents about housing and raise awareness of our proposed solutions.
It’s been clear for months that the State Government – and their federal counterparts – need to get on board with rental reforms and big affordable housing builds. Max and the Australian Greens are far out in front on this and I will continue supporting my colleagues in Canberra as they push the Federal Government to do the right thing on housing.
I’d encourage all renters reading this to complete our newly-launched Renters Survey and help us build a comprehensive picture of what conditions are like in the rental market and what potential changes to tenancy laws and conditions matter most to you.
In Parliament I’ve continued to obtain the latest housing data through Parliamentary Questions – an effort that used to be possible by simply visiting the Housing Authority’s online dashboard. No wonder they’re no longer available because most of the metrics are worse now than when they were elected. The explosion of people categorised as ‘priority’ on the public housing waitlist is particularly concerning and it’s clear that the government has no real plan to resolve this crisis. In the meantime, the government’s own home loan agency appears to have become a debt trap. Interest on Keystart loans has jumped several points above the official rate, which is crazy for an agency designed to give lower-income people a leg up into the housing market.
Planning
No plan for Perth
The state government’s lack of interest in public housing is mirrored by its apparent lack of interest in where to put them…in fact, where to put any kind of housing. After effectively ending the role of councils in residential planning applications, the government has near-total ability to approve housing developments. It used the real and urgent need for infill to justify this but – as I found out during the Estimates Committee’s review of the Department of Planning, Lands & Heritage Annual Report, still lacks a comprehensive plan for developing the Perth and Peel regions after it ditched the previous one in 2022.
The previous Strategic Assessment of the Perth and Peel Regions (SAPPR) would likely have incentivised ‘good’ infill close to transport and amenities, and discourage developers from slapping high-rises down ad hoc, stranding large numbers of new residents in communities not designed for density. Without a replacement for SAPPR, it’s ultimately down to the Minister to make case-by-case decisions on whether to approve developer applications…and we know how much this government likes developers…
North Stoneville
…in fact they like them so much that Satterley’s North Stoneville development is still kicking when it should have been stopped on biodiversity and bushfire risk grounds ages ago. Despite being up against a major developer that’s been allowed too many attempts to push suburban sprawl into the hills, the Save Perth Hills group have been doing fantastic work fighting the North Stoneville development. I tabled their petition in Parliament, which asks the State Government to implement the Wooroloo Bushfire Inquiry’s recommendation to grant DFES the power to reject unsafe developments because of bushfire risks.
The development is now open for public comment, I’d encourage everyone to take the time to make a submission to the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage opposing it. Save Perth Hills have a useful how-to for submissions on their website.
Roe 9 link
I attended Save The Last Link on a community rally at Randwick Stables Community Garden to keep up pressure on the Minister for Planning to scrap their plans for the former Roe 9 corridor and retain a vibrant green link from Beeliar to the sea. The current State Government listened to the community when they were in opposition and committed to cancel Roe 8. But their draft concept plan shows that they’re still proposing to carve up the wonderful Roe 9 community and wildlife corridor.
This follows on from our community participatory planning session back in January that mapped out an alternative plan for the corridor, which became a massive submission that our office made to the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage on behalf of the local community.
I was pleasantly surprised at how of a crowd showed up to the rally, thanks to several dedicated local organisers who letterboxed thousands of flyers for the event. It was a perfect reminder of the power of collective action and the change that is possible when we come together to make our voices heard.
No all-white juries
I tabled a community petition to ban all-white juries and urgently begin a review of wider justice system, which rightly calls for a proper, comprehensive review that will root out the baked-in discrimination that’s harming so many kids and adults and locking them into economic, social and often cultural exclusion. That’s what we need rather than another quick fix from this state government.
Local Government reform
The Local Government Amendment Act has reached the upper house and debate will resume at the next Parliamentary sitting period in May, but it will be law ahead of local council elections in October. I’m supportive of most of the reforms in the Bill but it’s a missed opportunity for this government to act on expert advice and end the practice of businesses voting twice (or more!) in Council elections.
It’s an odd, undemocratic feature of local government in WA and open to rorting at the expense of actual voters. Getting rid of it is also ALP policy so leaving this in a reform Act is a disappointing omission from an otherwise sensible bit of legislation.
Animal welfare
The team and I had a lovely catch-up with Free The Hounds to discuss their ongoing campaign to ban greyhound racing in WA. Last year I tabled a petition organised by Free The Hounds in Parliament calling for a racing ban, and at the time it contained the most signatures out of any petition tabled in the 41st Parliament.
After a very long wait, we received a response – or rather a lack of one – from the Minster for Racing and Gaming that contained no commitments to either examine or implement a ban. Given clear public sentiment in favour of an end to this cruel sport this is not only disappointing but disrespectful to the majority of voters who want greyhound racing banned.
I will continue to both advocate for a phased-out ban in WA and highlight the role of the State Government in perpetuating for-profit animal cruelty.
Justice
I tabled a petition on behalf of advocates for those detained in Roebourne Regional Prison in abominable conditions. There has been extensive reporting going back over 20 years about distressing heat conditions at Roebourne, which has worsened as climate change increases the frequency of extreme heat conditions. Yet incredibly the WA Government only made the decision to install air conditioning at the prison late last year, and we’ve now learned that installation won’t happen until after next summer.
That the people in Roebourne Prison will have to suffer through another season of extreme heat thanks to the government sitting on a long-standing threat to detainee health and wellbeing is indicative of the wider human rights crisis in WA’s justice system. The petition calls for urgent installation of air conditioning at the prison, let’s hope the government sits up and takes notice.
Climate
Perth Stops for Climate
I joined Extinction Rebellion Western Australia, XRWA Grandparents, Doctors for the Environment Australia and hundreds of community members to march against major companies’ ramping up of fossil fuel extraction in WA. In the same week ABC analysis showed that local greenhouse emissions from these companies continues to rise, and Clean Energy Council’s annual report showed that despite record investment – of which only a tiny amount occurred in WA – renewable capacity in Australia needs to double to meet legislated emissions targets.
I delivered a Member’s Statement about how the WA Labor Government has not only been dragging their feet on reducing emissions but refuse to even mention climate change in the same year as the IPCC’s “final warning” to phase out fossil fuels or face climate catastrophe. I wonder what it will take for them to get serious about its net zero target by reining in the big emitters, and to improve WA’s pitiful share of the renewable energy generation boom.
Regional solar win
Until this month rural residents on the South West Interconnected Grid were subject to different power supply rules from Perth residents, which made getting solar PV less attractive. We asked questions about this week after week in Parliament, and the Minister had said that he wasn't going to budge on this. But after lots of pressure he finally agreed to a trial and ‒ no surprise to us ‒ the trial showed that allowing rural West Australians to have the same standard power supply as urban residents and upgrading to solar PV without penalty was possible. This is a particularly stubborn government even on easy sustainability wins like this, but they blinked ‒ a little example of how we can make change happen.
Denmark visit
The family and I headed south recently to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Denmark Community Windfarm – an enduring example of community-led planning can achieve! I also caught up with local Greens and supporters to discuss issues affecting the South West. A big concern is the coming drive for mineral exploration and mining in the regional as renewables investment ramps up. Mining for critical minerals will be important for the clean energy revolution but we need to do better than the poorly regulated approach that is seeing inappropriate mining proposals in our National Parks, our native forests, and even in people’s backyards.
An ongoing ad hoc approach to mining rules will lead to more degraded ecosystems and leave the South West pockmarked with unremediated mine sites. On top of this, recent revelations about Alcoa’s incredibly irresponsible mining activities close to a critical water source for Perth – which the government did nothing to prevent – underscore the need for fairer, stronger and more transparent regulations to deal with mining.
Gelorup Corridor clearing
Unfortunately it’s not just the mining sector that suffers from shaky regulation. I’ve repeatedly asked for updates in Parliament about the clearing of the Gelorup Corridor for the Bunbury Ring Road, specifically as to why a revised Fauna Management Plan, or a Vegetation Offsets Strategy had still not been received and approved by the State Government ahead of resumption of clearing.
The entire clearing process for the northern part of the Corridor is an avoidable tragedy for local biodiversity, but even with clearing locked in there is – on paper – a requirement for these plans to manage habitat impacts in line with seasonal migration and feeding patterns. However, this doesn’t seem to be of any concern to Main Roads or the Minister for Planning; we were told that these plans can be submitted after clearing has resumed…a response that sums up Main Roads’ and this government’s ongoing lack of respect for communities, ecosystems and even competent project management.
Politics in the pub – your right to protest
Excessive police response to climate protests, creeping expansion of police powers, brutalisation of imprisoned kids and adults…there is a concerning authoritarian streak to this State Government and to some WA institutions.
Exercising our right to expose, protest and disrupt wrongdoing by the powerful will remain critical to achieving net zero emissions, justice reform and many other critical changes to protect our shared future. We would already be so much worse off without WA’s proud tradition of grassroots activism; that tradition needs to be celebrated, nurtured and expanded to face new challenges and an uncompromising government.
Our right to protest was discussed at a Politics in the Pub event at the Local Hotel, South Fremantle on 2nd May. I had the pleasure of facilitating a panel of climate, heritage and human rights activists comprising Violet Coco, Josie Alec, Joana Partyka, and Sophie McNeill. It was a fascinating and lively conversation discussing where we are at and where to from here. The event is recorded on my Facebook page.
Net Zero Perth Report
Net Zero Perth is coming together with our contributors building a compelling picture of a near-future metro area repurposed to avert climate catastrophe and improving quality of life for all residents. The report builds on the stellar Perth 2.0 reports by former Senator Scott Ludlam and his team. We will be putting the draft report out for further consultation later in the year, watch this space.
In the meantime, we’re calling out for contributions from casual and professional photographers to contribute towards giving the report some real Perth character. We’re looking for images of the city that portray its best and worst features – infrastructure, green (and less green) spaces, streets, buildings and animal life are all welcome! DM your photos to my Facebook or Instagram, or email them to brad.pettitt@mp.wa.gov.au
Header photo: Brad with Greenpeace Australia staff on a tour of the Rainbow Warrior, which is visiting Fremantle for the first time in years. Piper Rollins