Labor’s Shadow Minister for Cities and Urban Infrastructure, Andrew Giles, has told a Property Council forum that COVID-19 has a left an imprint on our cities, and changes in employment and consumption habits cannot be disregarded by policy makers.
At the second virtual briefing in the Property Council’s Election Focus Series, Giles said as we emerge from the pandemic, and people begin to return to work in greater numbers, there is a chance to confront the challenges head on.
“Neither can of course the impact of an effective pause on immigration, and future migration policy settings,” he told the Property Council member briefing.
Giles believes that the country has an opportunity to work together to rethink core cities as places of positive activity experiences, rather than just places where knowledge work is done.
“COVID-19 pandemic has changed our cities but it hasn’t changed the economics of agglomeration, nor the central importance of Australia’s cities and suburbs to living standards of Australians,” he said.
“We must be mindful of what COVID has revealed to us about how cities work, how they haven’t been working and how they work better for all citizens.
“In the meantime, to accelerate a move towards 20-minute neighbourhoods, as more workers stay closer to home, in turn driving more opportunities to boost local economies. On the ground this has been happening, of course, but what’s been missing is a national framework.”
One issue highlighted by the pandemic was congestions in our cities, according to Giles.
“Before the pandemic, congestion in our cities was the biggest handbrake on productivity growth in Australia,” he said.
“It’s making our labour markets less efficient than they should be and has a wide range of impacts on people’s lives and of course, on our environmental sustainability.”
To solve some of these issues, Giles said partnerships were integral.
“Successful urban policy is built through partnerships, and that’s the central theme of Labor’s approach,” he said.
“We recognise the state of our cities as a core national responsibility, and that this must be a genuine issue shared between the three levels of government instead of a rolling dysfunctional blame game between jurisdictions, and with the community, and of course, a dynamic and engaged private sector.”
Giles stated that if elected, the Labor Party will turn city deals into “real city partnerships,” commit to a national urban policy framework, conduct a review of Infrastructure Australia, and convene an urban policy forum to create an annual status of our cities report.