Housing Trust Properties

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (14:29): My question is to the Minister for Social Housing. Following the announcement in the Governor's speech that all Housing Trust properties within 10 kilometres of the CBD built before 1968 will be renewed, can the minister detail why she does not think that Housing Trust tenants in rural and regional areas also do not deserve renewed accommodation?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform) (14:29): Thank you very much for that question. Yes, this is a really important initiative of the government. The good news, I can say to the member for Mount Gambier, is of course areas which are regional areas or not within 10ks of the CBD will be eligible and available to be considered for that sort of renewal—of course. The plan obviously is that over time we wish to be able to offer an opportunity for renewal of all public housing properties throughout the state.

The reason that there was a mention in the Governor's speech about that 10-kilometre area is that we do have some significant concentrations of that type of property within that space, and it is completely consistent with the government's policy, which I think we've been very plain about, about urban renewal and the importance of increasing the density in some parts of the metropolitan area in order to make proper use of existing infrastructure and, indeed, to improve the facilities of public transport, for example, that are offered.

It is certainly the case that anybody who represents any part of the city, or the country for that matter, where there are areas of public housing and those areas of public housing are in that vintage, yes, of course they are going to be looked at for renewal. As a matter of common sense, I would add too that many of these buildings are now quite tired.

If you think about the maintenance costs associated with these buildings and you also think about the technologies that were employed in the building of these things, for example, all the current contemporary standards about insulation and energy efficiency, wiring, and all that sort of stuff didn't exist. Many of those properties were designed for a time when the usual customer of the public housing market was a couple with two or three kids, and that's really not the market that we are looking at so much now.

A lot of people who presently want to occupy public housing are single people or couples, many of them older people, who aren't necessarily looking for a quarter-acre block or a three-bedroom home. This will offer an opportunity of them getting not only brand-new accommodation with contemporary technologies included in the buildings but also something that more closely matches their actual requirements.

Can I say to any of the regional members here and non-metropolitan members: if you have particular concerns about some of the housing stock in your part of the world, I'm quite happy to have a chat with you about any issues you've got about that. The answer ultimately is: all of that older stock we want to see renewed, and it is not just about people within 10ks of the CBD.