Public Housing

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:38): While the minister is taking questions on notice, can the minister also confirm how many jobs have been created during this time?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:38): I think that one might be a little bit more difficult because there are estimates. In terms of the contractors, we don't have their employment records to be able to determine that exactly. What I can say about providing stimulus funding, however, is that it does help to keep people employed in that sector who might otherwise—particularly during the height of restrictions—have had to either go onto JobKeeper or may have been laid off.

The reports I have had when speaking to people within the housing industry is that having that stimulus funding certainly helped them to maintain their pipeline of work, if you like—particularly for positions like apprentices—so that they were able to keep maintaining that workflow going. It's been very important in order to assist people to stay in those positions, if you like, where they might otherwise have had to either place people on JobKeeper or let them go.