The Victorian Liberals are ramping up their rhetoric, promising to slash planning approval delays to build homes quicker and cheaper if they return from the electoral wilderness in 2026.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
State Opposition Leader John Pesutto unveiled a plan to cut "red tape" connected to cultural heritage and what he referred to as Melbourne Water processes at the Victorian Liberal state council on Sunday.
These were imposing a burden on residential housing developers which, in turn, were passing the extra costs on to buyers, he said.
The coalition would establish clear timelines and costs for cultural heritage procedures, commit to annual published audits of cultural heritage approvals linked to housing developments and introduce annual performance audits for Melbourne Water, Mr Presutto said.
The changes would particularly benefit young Victorians who aspired to own a home.
"These will have a real and lasting impact on the cost of bringing homes to market," he told the crowd of more than 200 MPs, internal party leaders and rank-and-file members.
"We will turn this around in Victoria and give people the chance to own their own home."
Opposition planning spokesman James Newbury said the timelines would be "short" but did not provide specific figures.
"Cultural heritage plans have to be acknowledged (within 30 days) but there are almost no timelines once the process starts," he told reporters.
"Depending on answers you've received from the traditional owners (it can) in some cases ... (take) years and (cost) tens of if not hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Mr Pesutto said the opposition had spoken with developers but had yet to consult with Indigenous community leaders about the policy.
In his almost 40-minute speech to the Liberal Party faithful, Mr Pesutto said he wanted to flip the electoral map on its head in 2026 after three state election defeats.
"No seat is safe - no seat should be," he said.
"The people in every seat deserve a choice ... we will contest every square inch of the state."
Mr Pesutto also used his address to call out Premier Jacinta Allan's response to the CFMEU scandal, revealing the opposition would move to establish an inquiry when state parliament returned.
"We're not going to let this matter go," he said.
"The premier might think that the caravan will move on but we're standing in front of it."
There was no sign of angst among the Liberal masses over Mr Pesutto's looming defamation battle with expelled MP Moira Deeming, with most rising to give the opposition leader a standing ovation at the end of his speech.
The Hawthorn MP was booed and dozens of rank-and-file members walked out as he rose to give a speech at the same event at Bendigo in May 2023.
It followed comments from Mr Pesutto about Mrs Deeming attending a rally gatecrashed by a group of masked men who performed the Nazi salute.
The defamation dispute is scheduled to head to trial in September, despite the state Liberal leader reaching settlements with rally speaker Kellie-Jay Keen and organiser Angela Jones.
"I won't comment on the trial," Mr Pesutto said.
Earlier, rank-and-file members passed a resolution to call for the repeal of Victoria's legislative ban on nuclear activities.
Outspoken upper house Liberal MP Bev McArthur said the party should get on board with supporting the idea of exploring nuclear energy.
"We need to lift the prohibition so we can have the debate about how feasible nuclear energy is," she said.
Energy was a major focus of Peter Dutton's speech at the two-day event on Saturday, with the federal opposition leader spruiking his plan to set up seven nuclear plants at coal-fired power stations including one in Victoria.
Mr Pesutto, who has previously said the state opposition has "no plans for nuclear", ducked repeated questions but said Mr Dutton would have a mandate to take the discussion further if he won the next federal election, due by May 2025.
Australian Associated Press
