Housing Trust Rent

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:52): Supplementary question: now that the minister has finally conceded that her—

The PRESIDENT: Stop the inflection. It's a simple, crisp question since you are on a short leash today, the Leader of the Opposition.

The Hon. T.J. Stephens: Very short leash.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Some of the most vulnerable in our community—

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Stephens, I don't need you adding into this conversation.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —will have significantly raised rents. Will the minister now concede and own her decision to increase these rents for some of the most vulnerable in the community—yes or no?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:52): I remind the Leader of the Opposition that the most vulnerable people are not people living—

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, you have asked your question. I would like to hear, as would everyone else in this chamber, the minister's response. Ask your question and listen to the answer in silence.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: The most vulnerable people are not living in public housing in that sense, in the financial sense.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: They are people who are sleeping rough and living in cars, and there is an additional cohort who need to be considered who are Centrelink recipients who are in rental stress in the private sector.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Minister, go on.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: So people who are living in our public housing—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: They're not interested in your answer.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: We provide public housing for the most vulnerable—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: Oh, you do now?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —but we don't have enough room for them all and that is because of the situation that the Labor Party has left us in. We want to be able to provide more housing for more people—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —and the Labor Party shamelessly sold all of those properties without any consideration for people who can't get into the system and who are residing in places like Catherine House, and other people can't get in, in a whole range of homelessness services because we can't get them into public housing. That is the legacy that the Labor Party have left us: people living on the street in unsafe situations, who can't get into public housing because of the mess that the Labor Party has left our public housing system in.