Dominic Perrottet was announced yesterday as the new Premier of New South Wales, replacing Gladys Berejiklian after she resigned on Friday.
Perrottet, who was previously Treasurer, comes into post at a vital time of the transition out of lockdown, with restrictions set to lift for vaccinated individuals as soon as next Monday.
While Covid is undoubtedly the biggest issue facing the new Premier, the ongoing property boom in Sydney will be weighing on his mind: Sydney is approaching an affordability crisis for first home buyers at the same time as experiencing unprecedented growth in other areas.
Perrottet must juggle rising property prices in Sydney’s wealthier areas – Northern Beaches property prices have been rising as much as $10,000 per week – while attempting to give young people and Millennials a chance of getting their feet onto the ladder.
His rival for the Liberty Party of New South Wales leadership, Planning Minister Rob Stokes, has been atop the housing approvals system in NSW for two years and has overseen a drop in approvals that has strangled supply in Sydney, contributing greatly to the rise in demand and thus prices.
“It’ll be no surprise to anyone that Urban Taskforce has had concerns with the Planning portfolio over the last couple of years,” said Urban Taskforce CEO Tom Forrest. “We haven’t seen enough focus on delivering housing approvals and supply, and that has now manifested itself in a spike in prices, something that just about everyone says that we now have to urgently seek to address.”
“The good news about Dominic Perrottet is that he is a person who is very keen to free up the constraints of planning and to increase the speed of the planning process, and to have the planning system focus first and foremost on housing supply, jobs and investment for getting New South Wales going in the post-Covid kickstart period.”
“A Dominic Perrottet-led government is good news for the planning system, it’s good news for the development industry and it’s good news for those that are entering the housing market.”
Forrest’s sentiments were echoed by Business NSW CEO Daniel Hunter. “I am pleased the leadership question has been settled quickly, at a critical time in our state’s recovery from the COVID-19 Delta outbreak,” he said.
“Dominic Perrottet and his team have a big job to do to ensure continuity of leadership for the state and to deliver the roadmap to reopening, and they certainly have the experience to achieve that goal.”
“Business NSW has worked closely with Dominic Perrottet over the years, both as Finance Minister and most recently as Treasurer.”
“He has been a great advocate for the business community and has been singularly focused on delivering the best possible operating conditions for business throughout the pandemic and lockdowns."
