- The Productivity Commissioner suggested 60 opportunities to boost productivity in NSW
- Both the NSW Treasurer and the White Paper acknowledge housing affordability is 'causing distress'
- The White Paper addresses opportunities across seven key areas
Jane Fitzgerald, New South Wales Executive of the Property Council (PCA), has welcomed the Productivity Commission White Paper 2021 which she has labelled as a ‘critical launchpad’ in the post-pandemic world to support a more prosperous NSW.
Productivity Commissioner Peter Achterstraat AM recently delivered a comprehensive report consisting of 60 opportunities to boost productivity.
“We welcome today’s report as an important milestone for NSW as we emerge from the COVID-induced recession,” Ms Fitzgerald said.
“This comprehensive list of recommendations includes some important boosters set to untie the knots in the planning system and speed up processes to deliver benefit to the economy and release the homes our state so desperately needs.”
Jane Fitzgerald, Property Council NSW
Ms Fitzgerald added that several recommendations needed to be urgently adopted, while some would require significant dialogue with the community if to be proceeded with at all.
In particular, she added that both the Productivity Commissioner and the NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet agree that to address the housing affordability crisis, the State’s planning system needs to do better.
“Housing affordability is a dire challenge that is causing distress for people right across NSW and the White Paper rightly calls for local housing delivery processes to be scrutinised and for the State to step up to ensure a strong pipeline of housing,” Ms Fitzgerald said.
“The White Paper steadfastly acknowledges that there is still a great deal to do to ensure the NSW planning system is efficient and effective and producing the high-quality development we all deserve.”
More specifically, the 40th page of the White Paper says “strict constraints on the location, nature and density of housing are limiting choice and leaving people with less income to spend on other goods and services.”
The paper addresses opportunities across seven areas;
- Improving schools’ ability to provide the education that the people of New South Wales need to reach their potential.
- Ensuring investment in the right workplace skills for a globally competitive and adaptive workforce.
- Regulating in ways that support innovation and competition.
- Ensuring reliable, sustainable, and productive supply and use of water and energy resources
- Gaining more from infrastructure.
- Planning for housing and jobs
- Modernising tax system to help the economy grow.
Over in Western Australia, there have also been welcome calls for reforms in the planning process.
