Conservative thinker and self-described true market liberal, Dr Mike Nahan has returned to live in Perth with plans to get involved in Western Australian policy at what he believes is a critical time in the state’s development.
Conservative thinker and self-described true market liberal, Dr Mike Nahan has returned to live in Perth with plans to get involved in Western Australian policy at what he believes is a critical time in the state’s development.
After a year of handing over the reins at the Melbourne-based Institute of Public Affairs, where he ruled for a decade, Dr Nahan has taken on two key public policy roles – helping the WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry establish its own think tank, and the more politically partisan position as head of the state Liberal Party’s housing affordability taskforce.
He sees both positions as relatively short-term but says he is committed to Perth as his future base, from where he will also undertake consulting into South-East Asia and take directorships of public companies.
Speaking in his softened American accent, Dr Nahan describes the housing affordability issue in WA as a big crisis with the potential to upset the state’s transition from a small boom-and-bust resources economy to a more stable and significant player on the national stage.
He believes the current jump in housing prices will scare away the very people the state needs to attract to capitalise on a growth path that has taken it – along with Queensland – well ahead the rest of Australia.
“WA is different than Sydney or Melbourne,” Dr Nahan told WA Business News.
“It is growth orientated, yet many government policies are restricting growth in terms of population and housing.
“We have to embrace pro-growth policy.”
While there are many other issues he wishes to tackle, including infrastructure, industrial relations and access to resources, housing is an issue that needs to be fixed quickly before it throttles economic growth and creates a bust that WA doesn’t need to have.
Dr Nahan said he had never seen 35 per cent growth on the back of 25 per cent growth in a property market and, despite being a beneficiary through land he owned from more than a decade ago when he last lived here, allowing housing to become so expensive was a major mistake.
The problem, he believes, is a lack of supply, created by the state’s bureaucracy and the planning community, which stood in the way of urban sprawl.
“Bureaucracy and the planning community are all about no-growth,” Dr Nahan said.
“They want to eliminate sprawl, but that restricts supply.”
What’s worse, it will take careful management to bring the problem under control without causing sudden and damaging deflation.
Dr Nahan firmly believes the answer to this and the state’s other issues lies in market forces. Elite groups wanting everyone to live in Subiaco-like villages are not paying heed to what people want – affordable, suburban lifestyles.
He believes this is a critical area the state has to get right if it wants to progress to its next stage – a great lifestyle capital that is globally competitive.
In this regard he has opted to get involved at a political level and aligned his views more closely to that of the Liberal Party.
Dr Nahan admits that becoming directly involved may affect how his message is received, but he believes it is important to contribute directly to the democratic process.
“I have developed a reputation for being an independent analyst and this somewhat undermines that,” he said. “That is my decision.”
