Government Rents

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (15:13): I seek leave to make a brief—

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: No, the Hon. Mr Pangallo has the call.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: —explanation before asking a question of the Treasurer about rents charged by the government on buildings it owns.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: At the height of the pandemic outbreak, the state government, like other private sector—

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Pangallo, can I just ask you to take your seat for a moment. The gentleman upstairs with the helmet on, you need to either be in your seat or leave the chamber. You can't be standing up and moving around. So if you wouldn't mind, that would be much appreciated.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: At the height of the pandemic outbreak the state government, like other private sector landlords, provided generous relief from rent charged to its tenants heavily impacted.

The Hon. R.I. Lucas: Hear, hear!

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Good on you. Wait till you hear the rest of it. My understanding is that it lasted six months until the end of September. This included small business tenants like restaurants and cafes, many of which have sought JobKeeper as well. They still have not fully recovered from their losses, while some are no longer eligible for JobKeeper because they no longer meet the threshold. I was contacted by a constituent who told me that since resuming paying their rent in full their government landlord has also enforced a 5 per cent annual increase in rent.

My question to the Treasurer is: why would the government impose a hefty increase, greater than CPI, on rent when businesses are still struggling to recover from the pandemic while private sector landlords have generally resisted making extra demands?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (15:16): I thank the honourable member for acknowledging the generosity of the government on behalf of the taxpayers—because it's not the government's money, it is the taxpayers' money—has shown to tenants in government tenancies. If the honourable member wants to, is prepared to or is able to share with me the details of the particular case, I would be very pleased to have it considered urgently and to follow it up.

If I could just say, I think it might be a generous interpretation in relation to the activities of private sector landlords. I do know in some cases post the arrangements that some are looking at enforcing the contractual requirements for rent increases. But as I said I do not, obviously, have the detail of the particular case the honourable member has got. The government has been and may well still be—without giving any commitment—generous in relation to trying to provide support for those that are significantly COVID impacted.

It may well be that particular businesses, as a result of the second round of the Small Business Grant scheme, might be eligible for the $10,000 grants that the government has just offered as part of the budget. If I could just update the house, I think there are close to 1,500 applications in the first 36 hours after the announcement of the $10,000 and $3,000 grants. It may well be the individual business gets assisted in another way, but in relation to the 5 per cent increase in the rental payment, I am happy to have it investigated and bring back a reply.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Pangallo has a supplementary.