Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you for your protection, President. The housing approvals process is only going to get faster from here under the Albanese government, as well as simpler and more reliable, with the rollout of our landmark national environmental laws well underway. We'll see faster approvals via a new, streamlined approvals pathway, better and more enduring bilateral agreements between federal and state governments, and improved strategic assessments and bioregional planning. What a far cry from the situation we inherited from the coalition when we came to office. There were nearly 100 housing projects sitting unapproved and not a single dollar provided to the environment department for environmental approvals for housing. Since then, we have approved 79 housing projects totalling 62,000 homes, and there are more to come under the Albanese Labor government.