Housing for Women

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (14:56): My question is to the Minister for Housing. Did the minister meet with Uniting SA regarding their specialised housing proposal for women over the age of 55 who are experiencing domestic violence? If so, did he request that the development be moved or changed?

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION (Taylor—Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Housing Infrastructure, Minister for Planning) (14:57): Is this the one at Bowden? Is that the one you are referring to?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Human Services is called to order.

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: I think what the opposition will find—they FOI my diaries pretty often, sometimes even with rigor—is that I have met with Uniting SA a number of times. I probably meet with them twice a year as well as going to many of their openings, most recently just off Churchill Road. They have many projects. One of the issues with the one at Bowden was that it exceeded the Planning and Design Code and as a result was running into a fair bit of community opposition at SCAP.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey and the member for Flinders will listen to the answer in silence.

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: The proposal exceeded the design code, and so one of the issues that they were having is that there was an open question about whether that housing proposal would be approved by SCAP. One of the things we like to do is work with community housing providers to make sure that they can provide the housing required. Obviously, I thought it was best that they meet the Planning and Design Code; I think that is important. We are also working with them on another housing project so that we get a similar outcome across two projects.