Cities policy

Question

1. How many staff from the Department of Infrastructure transferred into Treasury's Cities and Suburbs Unit and/or the Treasury Department broadly, following the machinery of government changes in 2025? 2. Provide a copy of the communique from the 8 August 2025 planning ministers meeting. 3. Provide an overview of what work the Cities and Suburbs Unit is currently engaged in, specifically relating to Cities policy. 4. How is Minister O'Neil engaging with local and state governments, and industry stakeholders, about the needs of cities and growth areas? 5. How many times has Minister O'Neil met with her counterpart minister King to discuss infrastructure needs and challenges in cities and growth areas, since Minister O'Neil was appointed Minister for Cities? 6. Was Minister O'Neil provided with a charter letter from the Prime Minister and if so, does that charter letter outline the Minister's responsibilities relating to cities and urban policy? a. Please provide a copy of the charter letter. 7. Does the Cities and Suburbs Unit, or the unit responsible for national policy on cities, have KPIs or other performance measures it is required to meet? a. If yes, please provide a copy of these KPIs. 8. How many times has the working group relating to Cities policy established by Ministers King and O'Neil, met since it was established? a. Provide summaries of all meetings of this working group, including times, dates, attendees, meeting notes, communiques and electronic communications. b. Provide a copy of the terms of reference for this working group 9. Treasury officials stated that responsibility for cities policy transferred to Treasury following the 2025 machinery-of-government changes. Please provide: a. A copy of the Administrative Arrangements Order or other instrument effecting that transfer. b. A detailed list of all functions, programs, staff and budget transferred. 10. Which cities-related programs and policy responsibilities remain within the Department of Infrastructure? 11. Please provide any governance documents, memoranda of understanding, responsibility matrices or similar documents setting out the division of responsibilities between Treasury and Infrastructure for cities policy.

Answer

See attached response.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• SQ26-000280 Cities policy.pdf (opens in a new tab)