Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made housing the centrepiece of his latest election pitch to Western Australia, pledging to “unlock” more than 1,000 homes across the state’s regional communities.
Touching down in Kununurra on Wednesday night after a whistlestop tour of the Top End, Mr Albanese said the $200 million package would help ease the housing crunch across multiple WA cities as well as boost community infrastructure.
The lack of available housing remains a key factor behind many of the social and economic issues crippling regional WA, with private businesses and government services struggling to find homes for critical staff.
The government has committed to “unlocking” 591 new homes in Karratha. (ABC News: Charlie Mc Lean)
The funding, which would be used to develop power, water and other infrastructure to support housing stock, included $22 million in Karratha, $32.8 million across WA’s Wheatbelt and $14.2 million in Albany.
Speaking in Kununurra on Thursday, the prime minister said the government wanted to drive growth across regional WA.
“Making sure we understand that it’s not just about Perth,” Mr Albanese said.
“It’s about the regions and the capacity they have to deliver jobs and economic growth.”
Cautious response from regional leaders
In Karratha, 1,530 kilometres north of Perth, current modelling predicts a shortfall of nearly 1,200 homes across the next decade.
Rents in this region are also some of the highest in Australia.
Funding from Labor’s package would focus on the Mulataga Housing Estate on the city’s outskirts.
“Initially there will be 130 lots delivered,” City of Karratha chief executive Virginia Miltrup said.
“Then revenue generated from developing those lots will roll forward into supporting future phases in unlocking land.”
City representatives travelled to Canberra last year in a bid to turn Commonwealth attention to Karratha’s housing challenges.
“I really do believe we’ve raised the profile of not only Karratha, but the Pilbara, in Canberra,” Ms Miltrup said.
However, Karratha builder Kim Janney said the cost of land and infrastructure was not the key problem.
“The build price is significantly more than what you can buy on the market,” he said.
“I would suggest we won’t pour any more than five slabs this year.”
Kim Janney says the cost of building is a key challenge in Karratha. (Supplied: Kim Janney)
Thousands of houses needed
In the Wheatbelt, an alliance of local governments has identified a shortage of almost 1,500 houses.
Shire of Victoria Plains chief executive Sean Fletcher said the region’s funding injection, to be split between 10 shires, was significant.
“This funding will allow us to address 400-500 of that housing stock that we need,” he said.
“A majority of businesses are saying they need housing for workers, they can’t expand otherwise.”
It is a similar situation in Esperance, where research by the local chamber of commerce has identified 60 local jobs that could be immediately filled if there was adequate available housing.
“They are jobs that require people with technical skills that are probably not in town,” Shire President Ron Chambers said.
“But there are other sectors, such as healthcare, policing and education that are also suffering.”
It takes an estimated five years to build a new house in regional Western Australia. (ABC Great Southern: Lauren Smith )
Further north in the Wheatbelt, mining and renewable energy developments have put pressure on available housing stock.
“We need a combination of quality worker, community and social housing,” Moora Shire President Tracy Lefroy said.
“We’ve actually lost families from Moora because there was no available rentals.
“I’m hoping if we get some housing, it will free up rentals so we can have these new workers come to town.”
Moora Shire President Tracy Lefroy says families are leaving the community due to a lack of available housing. (Supplied: Tracy Lefroy)
State’s construction crunch
With WA’s entire construction sector under significant pressure, the estimated build time for a house in regional areas sits at about five years.
In Albany, where $14.2 million is being directed toward homes in the suburb of Lockyer, an increasing number of people moving to town has driven up demand.
“That’s not actually producing 86 new blocks or 86 new homes, but it certainly will help make it easier for someone to do that,” Albany real estate agent Barry Panizza said.
“I couldn’t see those homes being available for two or three years if it’s only to get infrastructure in place at the moment.
“So I’m not thinking things will change in a hurry.”
But Albany Mayor Greg Stocks believes the funding will help the city provide more affordable housing.
“The grant expects us to get these lots done by the end of 2026, so we’ll have to be pretty nimble about it,” he said.
“We had this piece of freehold land the city didn’t have the financial capability to develop, but now we have this grant we will connect water, power and roads, so the relevant infrastructure is there to get these lots to market.”
**Additional reporting by Samantha Goerling and Anna Cox.**