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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-02-26 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

HOUSING TRUST WATER METERS

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:15): Today I received a delegation of rather distraught South Australians. These are the people, a group of thousands, who represent those who reside in what we know as Housing Trust accommodation. The South Australian Housing Trust, as we know, was established in the 1930s to provide what we now call affordable housing for people in our community, and it has had a very impressive history in providing low cost accommodation for people who are unable to access private accommodation. It has played a very important role. This government introduced the affordable housing bill to this house and it has passed and they have attempted to remove the Housing Trust board. We now have at least an affordable housing board to advise the minister in relation to affordable housing.

But the deep, disturbing consequences of the government's announcement came—surreptitiously, I might say—through a newsletter to Housing Trust tenants, assuming they have even been able to read it, to get to page 3, find the article, understand it, and be able to have access to that material. They have received, via a newsletter, an announcement that they are going to be charged for water in the future, but they are not going to have a meter. So those who live in an aggregate group of dwellings or houses or accommodation in a Housing Trust facility are going to have their water bill averaged between the dwellings.

That takes no account of what the occupations are of the people who are occupying those properties, whether they are retired or employed, whether they are in the house 24/7 or not, whether they have other family members living with them, whether they have partners, whether they have colleagues, neighbours, friends, itinerants—how many people are living in the dwelling. There is no account of what other extra facilities they have at the house other than for showering and toilet purposes, as to whether they have extra improvements like swimming pools. There is no account of whether their neighbour has those things and they do not.

The government has announced they are going to try and—as we heard again from the minister today—introduce some assessment of these, with some undefined formula to apply, to try and equitably distribute the expenses that are allocated to that particular site through one meter.

These people, hundreds of them, have been presented today in the parliament, and another 244, I place on the record, have signed a petition, but it is not quite in the right form. But let me tell you that this is what their message is and it is very clear: it says, 'We want our own water meters. We will not pay for others water. Housing SA justice for tenants. Tenants' petition (and supporters) of our request for fairness and the right to monitor our own water use and pay accordingly to SA Water.' Hundreds have signed this petition as well. And I know it is not in exactly the right form to be received in this parliament as a formal petition, but their message is very clear.

They do not wish to pay for their neighbours' water. They do want to participate. Many of them tell me they want to participate in water saving measures—to have their shower nozzles changed, to introduce water tanks, to actually be able to reduce the water consumption from the public supply. They do want to do that. But what incentive have they got to do it when, of course, they are going to be paying for the excesses of a neighbour?

A number of these examples have been brought to my attention. One was where a person complained of their neighbour washing their car each night. Apparently this neighbour, quite illegally according to the current water restrictions, was washing his taxi each night and using extra water. Apart from reporting the illegal use of the watering apparatus and the time that he was using that water, the fact is that an enormous amount of extra water was being used in that household. It does not take into account those who are single tenants. If one looks at the housing reports that we see in this parliament, about half the occupants in affordable housing—in Housing Trust, as we have known it, in community and Aboriginal housing, but particularly the former two—are single persons. Sometimes a retired widow of senior age who is living on their own uses very little water for cooking consumption and showering, and they are the ones who will be required to pick up this financial cost. It is a burden which is inequitable; it is a burden which is unacceptable; and it is a burden about which this parliament should send a clear message to the government.

Time expired.

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