“The reality is that you’re not going to lose your seat because of 10 letters that you receive[about] a development from a few NIMBYs that don’t want it to go ahead,” he said.
“But you will lose your seat if only one-in-five Gen Z and one-in-four Millennials are voting for the Liberal Party because they can’t afford to buy a home. That’s how you’re going to lose your seat.
“My suggestion would be to do more to drastically increase private housing supply in NSW and maybe worry a little bit less about the handful of NIMBY boomers that email and phone your office.”
Rath urged the Liberal Party to take guidance from the Canadian Conservative Party under Pierre Poilievre,who as opposition leader has introduced a private member’s bill that would require municipalities to increase dwelling completions by 15 per cent each year to receive their usual infrastructure funding.
Councils or cities that exceed the targets would receive bonus funding,while those who fail to meet the targets would have the money withheld. “We will stop giving dollars to gatekeepers who get in the way of home-building,” Poilievre said,according to Canada’sNational Post.
Rath said the platform successfully appealed to younger Canadian voters,about 40 per cent of whom were preferencing the Conservative Party – compared to Australia,where the Liberals were the first choice for about 20 per cent of Millennials and Gen Zs.