Australia’s youngest housing minister happy to pay developers’ fees as Queensland races to boost supply

A Gold Coast renter who turns 31 this month, the new Queensland planning minister, Meaghan Scanlon, is a self-confessed “Yimby”.

To Scanlon, fixing the state’s housing crisis means not only saying “yes, in my back yard”, but saying yes to a host of broader reforms too. Everything is on the table, from picking up the bill for developers’ council fees to buying old hotels to boost affordable housing stock, and trading away planning restrictions in return for cheaper homes.

“I’m pro-housing, unashamedly pro-housing,” she tells Guardian Australia. “We are open for business. We want to try and unlock as much supply as we can.”

In her first few weeks at the helm of the state government’s newly merged planning, housing and local government departments, Scanlon has rolled out the beginnings of a major reform agenda including:

“Mandatory” housing targets for councils.

A $350m fund to “incentivise infill development” including paying council infrastructure fees for developers.

To read continue visit the website: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/26/australias-youngest-housing-minister-happy-to-pay-developers-fees-as-queensland-races-to-boost-supply