National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:20): Supplementary: when will negotiations be complete?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:20): As anybody who's involved in negotiations knows, there can be a range of factors at play. I can't put a particular time frame on that, except to say that it would have been advantageous for the former government to commit funding in the forward estimates. As I have outlined in this place before, they were able to make all sorts of outrageous promises to build a $300 million tram to Norwood, which was clearly rejected by the people of Norwood and the people of South Australia, and did not have anything on the table, as was outlined in the federal parliament in February of this year. That is one of the great disappointments in this whole debate. This new government is committed to executing an agreement as soon as practicable, and we are working towards it assiduously.