Legislative Council Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3) 51 3 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Housing SA HOUSING SA The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE Legislative Council HOUSING SA The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (15:12): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of the Government a question about the status of Housing SA. Leave granted. The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE Legislative Council The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: I have recently been contacted by a constituent regarding the Housing Trust residence where she lives. I am advised that the resident has asked many times to be allowed to move to premises within Housing SA due to the disrepair and subsequent safety of the house. Some of the maintenance issues include the following. The ceiling is falling down and rain is coming into the house, creating a mess and an electrical safety hazard. The lights are falling out of the ceiling and fibreglass is falling out of the ceiling cavity. A maintenance person was sent to inspect the lights but did not even get into the roof to carry out the inspection or fix the situation. The resident slipped and broke her toe due to sewage and water leaking onto the pavers outside and then into the house. Fences are falling down and are not being fixed. Lino in the house is lifting, which causes the resident and her daughter to trip regularly. A fan exploded in the house because carpenters did the rewiring work instead of electricians. There are also concerns about the amount of asbestos in the house. The resident has letters from a doctor confirming her injuries. The resident is so despondent and concerned for her safety that she is considering moving out of the premises into private housing that she cannot afford, because she has to put her safety and that of her family first. However, she is concerned that, if she does so, she might not be able to return to Housing SA premises. The confounding thing about this lady's situation is that I have data indicating that, as at 28 January 2009, 1,872 Housing SA premises were vacant, 17,703 premises were awaiting maintenance and 135 premises were both vacant and awaiting maintenance. My questions to the leader are: 1.	Can a house be made available immediately so that the resident and her daughter can move into safer, more suitable Housing SA accommodation? 2.	If there are 1,872 premises vacant and 135 of those are awaiting maintenance, can this resident be placed in one of the other 1,632 premises that are vacant and not awaiting maintenance? 3.	Is this situation symptomatic of an endemic problem within Housing SA? The Hon. G.E. GAGO Legislative Council Minister for State/Local Government Relations Minister for the Status of Women Minister for Consumer Affairs Minister for Government Enterprises Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (15:15): I thank the honourable member for his important questions and will refer them to the Minister for Housing in another place and bring back a response. I am sure it would be helpful to the minister if the honourable member were to provide the details of the particular constituent and circumstances to the minister's office and they will be pleased to take that up.