2026-09-03
Pushing rental reform and urging greater government action on the housing crisis, in Perth and regionally. And, calling for an AI inquiry.
By Hon Tim Clifford, MLC
August marks the return to Parliament after the annual winter break – and at time of publication, there are just seven sitting weeks remaining for the year! We’ve spent the past couple of months continuing doing what we Greens do best: holding this government to account and pushing for the change all West Australians deserve.
Housing happenings
As always, there’s no shortage of work to do in the housing space.
Over the past couple of months our campaign to strengthen renters’ rights in WA has continued to progress. Meanwhile the Cook Labor Government’s promises to ban no-fault evictions and implement their second tranche of residential tenancy reforms have gone absolutely nowhere. At time of writing, we’re still waiting for them to show real leadership on rental reforms – an absolute disgrace as the housing crisis gets worse and worse.
In August it was fantastic to welcome the Greens’ federal housing spokesperson Senator Barbara Pocock to Perth. As well as attending a hearing in the Greens-led Senate inquiry into intergenerational housing inequality, Barbara joined myself and Senator Jordon Steele-John for a community event about housing down in Secret Harbour – which was a great success!
My team and I also visited a couple of sites that have become tragic symbols of the scale of WA’s housing crisis: Memorial Drive in Rockingham, where scores of people are now sleeping in tents and caravans set up along the strip, and the new homelessness services site on Royal Street in East Perth – a site that’s woefully unfit for purpose.
Both confirm just how little the Cook Labor Government cares about the welfare of people who are unhoused, or about their responsibility to make sure everyone in this state has a home. Instead, it’s the amazing people and organisations on the ground who are doing what they can to pick up their slack, and I’m so grateful to them all for their tireless work. As always, I’ll be doing what I can to continue pushing in this space.
Regional trips up north
In July my team and I travelled up to Geraldton for a few days, where we had the invaluable opportunity to chat directly with locals, community members and advocacy orgs about the issues impacting folks in the region.
Between an excellent pub hangout and our community BBQ the following day, I was unsurprised to learn just how badly the Cook Labor Government is letting them down.
The housing crisis in particular is really smashing the greater Geraldton region. It was gobsmacking to find out that the area is home to around 1,400 undeveloped blocks of land – some of which have been sitting vacant for up to 20 years! And many of the land parcels that are being developed don’t seem to have any dwellings set aside for social or affordable housing, like Station Square in the centre of town.
The Cook Labor Government keeps trying to convince us they’re doing everything possible to deliver housing around the state, but their actions show otherwise.
I’d really like to sincerely thank everyone who came to our events in Gero and shared their frustrations and experiences with me and my team, as well as the community orgs we met with. We hear you, we’re fighting for you in the WA Parliament – and we’ll definitely be back soon!
A few weeks later I headed even further north on a whirlwind trip to the Pilbara, where I was joined by my Parliamentary colleague Jess Beckerling. We spent the better part of a week visiting with various community organisations and locals in Newman, Tom Price and Jigalong, learning about their experiences of everything from the housing crisis to water scarcity.
It was such an eye-opening and important experience to hear firsthand about the challenges faced by folks living in the Pilbara, who are being left behind by our decision-makers. I’m so grateful to everyone I met who shared their insights with me – it left a big impact and there’s absolutely no doubt I’ll be back soon.
Calling for an AI inquiry in WA
In August the Greens (WA) called on the Cook Labor Government to support an urgent parliamentary inquiry into AI and the policy that governs it.
Artificial intelligence presents one of the most significant social, environmental and economic challenges – as well as unprecedented opportunities – to our civilisation since the Industrial Revolution.
But our laws are not keeping pace with the rapid development of AI. Powerful overseas tech companies are embedding AI into every part of our lives with minimal oversight, impacting everything from the labour market and healthcare to our environment and energy security.
We’re undoubtedly at a crossroads from which there is no going back. That means we urgently need a clear, coordinated, evidence-driven roadmap for the future of AI in WA.
So far the government hasn’t committed to supporting an inquiry – I’ll keep you posted on how things unfold. In the meantime, add your name to our call for an inquiry here if you haven’t already.
Header photo: Tim with Greens supporters in Geraldton in July.