Sydney Building Costs

The National Housing Supply Council estimates there is a shortfall of 178,000 properties across the country.
Meanwhile the NSW Planning Department claims there is plenty of land available for residential development in Sydney - "the highest level of released land since 1981".
So why the discrepancy? A breakdown of building costs shows it costs almost $200,000 more to build a green-field house (ie, on land not previously used for housing) in Sydney than in other capital cities, mostly due to state government taxes and the raw cost of land.
The Urban Development Institute of Australia, the developer lobby group, blames the government for not providing services, roads, public transport, and easy DA approval processes. Their spokesman asks "if you are a developer, are you going to invest where there is all this uncertainty?"