Peta Seaton MP
Shadow Minister for Finance, Shadow Minister for Energy, Shadow Minister for Reform of Government, Shadow Minister for the Illawarra
More than $1.5 billion of housing construction work, hundreds of jobs and 2,700 dwelling units are being delayed by the Iemma Government’s disastrous planning approval system, a NSW Opposition survey of 40 construction industry bosses has found.
Shadow Minister for Finance Peta Seaton said the survey, which was conducted at a property industry seminar last week, proves the depth of the housing and construction crisis in NSW, which the Iemma Government continues to ignore.
“This is a damning list which explains why construction-material companies are crying out they are on the brink of plant closures and further NSW job losses,” Ms Seaton said.
ReplyDelete“This will worsen the record NSW jobless rate. The ‘Unemployment Premier’ Morris Iemma has now put nearly 200,000 people on the jobless heap.
“In some cases, projects on this list have been held up for two years. At the same time NSW is facing a housing supply and rental crisis as a result of a collapse in building starts and approvals,” Ms Seaton said.
“The size of these delays is just the tip of the iceberg compared with other housing and building projects. These projects have been left rotting on the Minister's desk while jobs are lost and investment goes to other states.
“The Labor Government’s economic vandalism has delivered a state with the country’s lowest growth, highest taxes, record unemployment and a place where companies simply do not want to invest.”
Ms Seaton said the Opposition’s Housing rescue roundtable discussions have already identified planning approval as a key factor in the crisis facing the NSW building sector.