Social Housing

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:00): Supplementary based on the original answer: given that the government has not published its planned or expected levels of social housing, what assurances can the minister provide that South Australia has complied with commonwealth law and that we are not at risk of losing $110 million in funding annually?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (15:01): We have had discussions with the commonwealth. I think the Labor Party were trying to peddle this through a story in the Sunday Mail or in one of the weekend papers. We have spoken to the commonwealth and they are satisfied with our strategy thus far. They are always interested in more data. I think it's fair to say that commonwealth governments are always suspicious of their state counterparts—that they are pocketing money and putting it in areas that it's not intended for.

I think the confidence that the Morrison government has in the Marshall Liberal government is very, very high. We have regular discussions with them. I have spoken to most of my ministerial counterparts who operate in this area, and they see South Australia as a strong leader that is doing the job and putting its shoulder to the wheel in terms of addressing the housing issues that South Australians need addressed.

The PRESIDENT: Further supplementary question arising from the original answer, the Hon. Mr Hanson.