Question Time

Construction Industry

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:00): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Attorney-General, representing the Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs, regarding South Australia's construction industry.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: It is not my normal practice in this place to ask questions of that minister that are primarily the responsibility of a minister in the other place—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: Indeed—but I have been approached by a number of constituents on this issue seeking a response from the government as they are quite concerned and understandably so. That is, data from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission has revealed that some 2,349 construction companies have collapsed over the last year alone, including several major South Australian builders within those statistics.

It was recently reported in the media that the Housing Industry Association of South Australia is calling on the state government to introduce a scheme similar to that which has been implemented in Western Australia whereby building companies are able to access interest-free loans of up to $300,000 to complete new builds that remain unfinished after some two years. In Western Australia the $10 million allocated to the scheme is expected to assist up to 600 home owners who would otherwise be in extreme difficulty.

My question to the Attorney, representing the minister in the other place, is: will the state government respond to the calls from our residential building industry stakeholders and examine a scheme similar to that in Western Australia? If not, what is the government's plan to address this serious situation?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:02): I will be happy to pass those on to the minister in another place, and I do that very gladly, for every time the Hon. Dennis Hood gets up it sends a shiver of fear down the spine of ministers in the Labor government. As I have said, he is the only one we have ever feared so I am just very grateful that question was not directed to me because it could have been my undoing.