House of Assembly Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2) 53 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Housing SA Housing SA Mr KNOLL House of Assembly Schubert Housing SA Mr KNOLL (Schubert) (14:50): Supplementary: can the minister outline then, of the $4 million that is currently spent on cleaning Housing SA tenancies, if that money was transferred into the maintenance budget, how many of the vacant properties that are unavailable for letting would be available? The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: I think it is a hypothetical question but, if the Deputy Premier would like to field it, he may. The Hon. J.R. RAU House of Assembly 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 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) (14:50): I just make this point, Mr Speaker: there are a number of houses which are owned by Housing SA which are at any given point in time vacant, that is, not occupied by people—or, at least, not lawfully occupied by people—and there are a number of reasons why they might be vacant. It is important, I think, for the member for Schubert to appreciate that some of them may be vacant because they are between tenancies, some of them may be vacant because there has been the need for repair to the property and the property is vacant whilst repair work is being done, and others are vacant because they are intended to be demolished. Ms Sanderson interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Adelaide is on two warnings. The Hon. J.R. RAU House of Assembly The Hon. J.R. RAU: So, it is not necessarily the case that every property which is owned by Housing SA which is vacant is vacant with the intention of it remaining an extant property, if that is a reasonable way of putting it. Indeed, the policy the government announced and made public through the Governor's speech indicates that there is a real appetite on the part of government to see renewal of the stock and that will necessarily involve some of those properties being ultimately retired and demolished and replaced with brand-new stock, possibly with more than one property replacing the one that is demolished.