The announcement of September 14 as the federal election date by Prime Minister Julia Gillard has heightened the importance of parties to articulate their policies on housing and infrastructure funding, one of the major factors of job creation, according to the Urban Development Institute of Australia.
A conference to be hosted by UDIA in Melbourne next month will provide a chance to explore the policies being put forward by major parties.
“Australia is facing a battle on three fronts to provide for the forecast expansion of its population by 2050 to 35.9 million,” says UDIA executive director Tony De Domenico.
“There is a massive backlog of infrastructure which is leaving capital cities in gridlock. The cost of the great Australian dream has moved beyond an increasing number of people,” he said.
Federal Housing Minister Brendan O’Connor, former prime minister Kevin Rudd, federal shadow minister for the environment and climate change Greg Hunt, Victorian Planning Minister Matthew Guy and Queensland’s Planning Reform Minister Ian Walker will be keynote speakers.
Julie Katz, national president of the UDIA, said: “The conference will profile views of government, industry and the community to open up a national public conversation on the pressing issues of population growth which impacts on every Australian.
“We see the conference as being an important and critical event to review policies on housing affordability, the development of robust and sustainable planning policies, the development of sustainable employment and skills retention and the provision of funding for urgently needed infrastructure.”
