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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-11-21 Daily Xml
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WOMEN, APPOINTMENTS

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:27): Today I wish to congratulate the Minister for Transport on a most momentous achievement in moving off the bottom of the list of ministers who have an obligation to appoint women to boards and committees in his department. He is no longer the bottom performing minister; he is now in third position. I congratulate him; he is moving up the list. I note that the Hon. Carmel Zollo in another place now has the mantle of being last, while the Deputy Premier is still struggling; he remains in second bottom position.

The ministers have failed the directives and requests of the Minister for the Status of Women, which were issued in an attempt to improve the situation. The minister implemented three strategies under the South Australian Strategic Plan target 5, which aims to increase the average number of women members on government boards and committees to 50 per cent by 2008. That strategy seems to have failed.

I will now list the ministers who have reduced the number of women represented on boards in their department. In order of seniority in the cabinet, the list is topped by the Deputy Premier, followed by the Attorney-General, the Minister for Families and Communities, the Minister for Mental Health, the Minister for Employment, the Minister for Water Security, the Minister for Police and the Minister for Emergency Services. They have all reduced the percentage of women on boards. I see that the minister has come into the house. I thank her for that, because she would have just heard me congratulate the Minister for Transport on going from bottom to third from the bottom.

The second matter that I wish to address today is the Premier's announcement that he has opened the Common Ground facility in Light Square. This is a housing initiative which will provide 38 homeless people with accommodation at Christmas. That is to be commended. It has been a long-awaited project. It was announced about two and half years ago, and I understand that it will be opened at Christmas. These are for a mix of people on low incomes. That is fantastic.

However, here is the problem: 30,000 people are on the waiting list for Housing Trust or other affordable accommodation in the state; 38 is just a drop in the ocean. Here is another interesting thing. Yesterday, the Minister for Families and Communities tabled the annual report of Families and Communities. Chief Executive Sue Vardon identified a major highlight in the completion of 452 newly constructed dwellings for the allocation of social housing customers. That is fantastic. But that is the good news.

The bad news is this: firstly, we heard the Minister for Families and Communities tell us, some months ago now, of his project to sell off 8,000 Housing Trust homes. Hopefully, some of them will be those that are occupied, but he was going to be selling off and disposing of that stock. He announced that it would be on the basis that it would be about 800 a year. The Auditor-General's Report 2006-07 confirmed that 3,385 properties were sold or disposed of during the financial year. So, we get 452 newly constructed dwellings, which I point out that the Auditor-General's Report confirmed includes Aboriginal housing, and this is perhaps the most disadvantaged group in the community in respect of access to housing, yet we have 3,385 properties that are sold off by the South Australian Housing Trust and authorities under the state government in the past financial year.

It seems that we are clearly going in the wrong direction in respect of doing something serious about housing and provision for those who are either homeless and on the streets, of which we have some 800, or for the 30,000 people (including that 800) who are on the waiting list and who are sleeping in cars or other inadequate accommodation, with children piled into caravans or sleeping on someone else's couch or the like. The Premier came in today and said, 'Isn't this fantastic?' when referring to the 38 to be accommodated in the Common Ground development. We have only had the announcement today; however, I attended the launch a few months ago at Light Square and we have heard numerous other reannouncements, yet over 29,500 people are still on the waiting list.

Time expired.

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