House of Assembly Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3) 51 3 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time HomeStart Finance HOMESTART FINANCE Ms CHAPMAN House of Assembly Bragg Deputy Leader of the Opposition HOMESTART FINANCE Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:08): My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Reserve Bank interest rate cut be passed on to HomeStart Finance customers and when will HomeStart provide advice on the rate cut to its customers? HomeStart Finance customers have advised the opposition that they had to wait 20 days after the Reserve Bank October rate cut for a HomeStart statement on which their new payments would be applicable. These complaints have resurfaced with the November rate cut, with HomeStart customers again unsure of their repayments. After the October and November rate cuts, the four big Australian banks announced their new interest rates within a day. HomeStart is the government's entity that provides home loans to low income earners. The Hon. K.O. FOLEY House of Assembly Port Adelaide Deputy Premier Minister for Industry and Trade Minister for Federal/State Relations HOMESTART FINANCE The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (15:08): I do not have that answer here. I will get that answer for the member. The issue is: when was the information provided to customers and when is the actual effective date of the interest rate cut? I would assume (and I would hope) that HomeStart would be passing on that cut at the earliest opportunity, but, bearing in mind, of course, that HomeStart's balance sheet is supported by government and its borrowings are supported by government, I would assume that they would have passed on the full rate of the cut, but I will get that information.