Members, Accommodation Allowances

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:21): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking you, sir, a question about allowances.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: According to reports and records and statements to this place, you originally lived at a home in Stonyfell that was your usual place of residence. During this time you purchased two units in the Breeze Apartments in Victor Harbor in 2008 and 2009. In 2011 you changed your usual place of residence to unit No. 10, Victor Harbor, despite retaining the home in Stonyfell. From this time you started to claim the country member accommodation allowance. You sold the Stonyfell home in 2012, and on exactly the same day settled on a new home in Norwood.

You claim that you used unit 10 at Victor Harbor as your usual place of residence until 2017, at which time you commenced renting another apartment in the same complex. At a time after that, while you owned two apartments in the Breeze Apartment complex, you opted to lease a third apartment in that complex and pay, according to what you told parliament on Tuesday, above market rent.

The home in Norwood, for which records show you paid no land tax, is apparently not your usual place of residence for the country members' accommodation allowance. For the purposes of correspondence with the Electoral Commissioner your Norwood home is listed as your contact address, and this Norwood address is also the only address listed for you in the White Pages.

Noting that your statements to this chamber do not cover all this information, and noting that you have ruled that you are responsible to this chamber for your use of the country members' accommodation allowance, is there any part of this explanation that is not correct and on which you would like to correct the record?

The PRESIDENT (14:23): I refer the honourable member to the statement I made on Tuesday, and I have nothing further to add.