SA Housing Authority Property Maintenance

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (14:34): My question is to the Minister for Housing. Has the minister retained the prioritisation system for works associated with maintenance on South Australian Housing Trust properties? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr TELFER: It has been reported this week that ministerial requests for maintenance are deemed a higher priority than emergency work.

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION (Taylor—Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Housing Infrastructure, Minister for Planning) (14:35): The maintenance issue is a very important one. It was one of the first issues that I asked for a briefing on when I became the minister with the new department, and I am very keen to make sure that the performance of this maintenance contract improves. We all understand that the performance as outlined in The Advertiser is not acceptable. The government has made that very clear to both the South Australian Housing Authority and, indeed, to the contractors concerned.

As I understand it, the South Australian Housing Authority has applied abatements to that contract to make sure that the performance improves. In terms of the priorities, they remain exactly the same as they always have been. From time to time, there are inquiries from members of parliament on both sides of the house, and they are relayed to the South Australian Housing Authority. It doesn't change their priorities.

Members would know from their correspondence that sometimes they will write back outlining what has occurred. Sometimes that's a good letter for their constituent inquiry, other times it outlines that the South Australian Housing Authority has made the appropriate decision. So I don't intervene in these cases; I let the South Australian Housing Authority do its job, I let the contractors do their job. That's the only way the system can work. That's the way the government has always approached this issue, and that's what we will continue to do.