Legislative Council: Thursday, December 02, 2021

Contents

SA Housing Authority

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (14:49): My question is to the Minister for Human Services regarding housing. After revealing yesterday that 16,307 criminal offences had been committed in SA Housing Authority financial transactions by breaching Treasurer's Instruction 8 and section 41 of the Public Finance and Audit Act 1987, can the minister now tell this chamber what the dollar value of the illegal transactions was, what was the period during which the 16,307 offences were committed, and can the minister guarantee that these offences are not continuing today?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:50): Oh, my goodness! We are in the middle of a pandemic and the Labor Party is focused on some findings from the audit report which I advised yesterday—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Let's do a little recap, shall we.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Leader of the Opposition might like to listen to the answer.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: In fact, the entire front bench of the Labor Party—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The opposition leader and his front bench should come to order.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Under the watch of the Labor Party, the former—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —here we go—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —the former Department for Communities and Social Inclusion paid some 4,000 water—

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order, leader!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —concessions to dead people. That's I think the sort of thing of concern that the people of South Australia are concerned about.

The Hon. R.I. Lucas: Sounds like an AWU election.

The PRESIDENT: The Treasurer is not helping.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: In terms of what was in this year's audit report, it is that authorisations between 1,000 and 5,000 shouldn't have been enabled by the computer system. It's a computer glitch. The Auditor-General—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —has allowed—

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order, the Leader of the Opposition!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —has allowed until—

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader! The Leader of the Opposition is out of order.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: They don't want an answer, Mr President.