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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-09-23 Daily Xml
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HOMESTART FINANCE

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:41): My question is to the Treasurer. What is the value of housing loans made under the Nunga Loans scheme promoted by HomeStart Finance where loans—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: —$1.2 billion is a lot of money—where loans above the property's value—

Mr Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I call the member for West Torrens to order.

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: —are approved to high credit risk customers augmented by additional loans to pay for credit card and hire purchase debts. The Nunga Loans product was introduced in 2004 to provide people with finance where they had been rejected by financial institutions. Like the US subprime loans, the South Australian government guaranteed loans can be as much as 110 per cent of the home's value. Additional funds of up to $27,500 are also provided to the owner to pay off credit card debt and household debt. According to the organisation's 2007 annual report, there are $41 million worth of these top-up loans still outstanding as at 30 June 2007 but no value is listed for the total of the main Nunga loans.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (14:43): It doesn't take long, does it? It doesn't take long for the true colour of a Tory to come out. Firstly, he throws a figure of $1.2 billion out there, then he talks about $41 million still outstanding. When you have home loans, they are normally outstanding because they go for 30 years. They do not pay them back in one financial year, so you will have an ongoing exposure. The Nunga Loans program has been in place since 2004. Opposition members have had access to briefings as shadow ministers, annual reports, question time and estimates committees to probe those policies. I am not aware of any time where the opposition has said we should not do this scheme. When the WorkCover Board, from memory, came to the minister with this proposal—

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: HomeStart.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: —HomeStart, sorry—came to—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: —the minister with this proposal, it was based on this principle: that in a fair and decent society, where disadvantage, particularly indigenous disadvantage, is so bad, one of the critical issues of—and I hate to use that expression 'the ladder of opportunity'—helping somebody to get out of despair and hopelessness and, in many cases, sleeping rough or shanty towns or horrible accommodation and to give them some pride is to give them home ownership. I remember Alexander Downer saying not that long ago that one of the best things we can do in impoverished parts of the world is give land tenure systems to disadvantaged parts of the world, because Alexander recognised that home ownership is one of the best ways to give individuals an opportunity—

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: Maybe that's why he outpolled this bloke.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: —to make a real difference and, as my colleague said, Alexander Downer obviously is held in much higher esteem in South Australia than the Leader of the Opposition—a guy who is not even in politics anymore can out rate the Leader of the Opposition.

That Nunga Loans program requires specific and careful monitoring of government because it does allow 100 per cent borrowing. I will get this checked but I do not think it is just indigenous people who can borrow at 100 per cent. We have done that for white fellas too. The white fellas get access to it. We are not hearing questions about the white fellas. The Leader of the Opposition is sailing very close to the wind on this issue.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: There is no doubt that lending to indigenous communities or lending to Caucasian or any other ethnic group that is on the margin of society and on the margin of capacity to pay is a high-risk loan. The reason we are doing it is because it is market failure. I have no doubt that there are losses in that portfolio and write-offs, as there are in the normal lending portfolio. This scheme has been around for four years. The scheme has been widely known, and this scheme is monitored carefully.

Mr Hamilton-Smith: During a property boom.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: 'During a property boom'—well, why weren't you asking me this question a year ago?

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Wasn't it the Auditor-General of 2006 you were quoting?

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: So are you saying now that we should not lend, that the Nunga program should be scrapped?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Well, no, I don't have the figures in front of me.

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition will stop interjecting.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: As my colleague said, the loans are secured against property, and you are suggesting that we have had property value decline. Is that what you are suggesting?

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: You're a bit rattled there.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: So, the Leader of the Opposition is in here saying that we have falling property prices. We have a reduction in housing activity which is leading to a reduction in stamp duties. My advice is that, whilst there is softening in the market, we have not yet registered ongoing property decline in values. You are simply getting to the base, crass politics that defines a Liberal party. When you want to make an opportunity, when you want to get into the headlines, you will kick a black, you will head into the area of divide politics—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Premier will take his seat. The member for MacKillop.

Mr WILLIAMS: I rise on a point of order. The Leader of the Opposition has asked a question. The Deputy Premier has done nothing to try to answer the question—

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: —but has tried to play politics and debate an issue which has nothing to do with the question.

The SPEAKER: Order! What is your point of order?

Mr WILLIAMS: The point of order is relevance, sir. The opposition is seeking information from the government and the Deputy Premier refuses to give the information.

The SPEAKER: Is your point of order that the Deputy Premier is not answering the substance of the question?

Mr WILLIAMS: Absolutely. Irrelevance to the question.

The SPEAKER: There is no point of order, but I would request that the Deputy Premier perhaps wind up his answer.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I will get that information. Again, I hope to have it before the end of question time, so I can either give it by an answer or make a ministerial statement. But I do not walk away from the fact that Nunga Loans are at the high-risk end. I do not walk away from the fact that there may be defaults on that scheme, as I know there are no doubt on Caucasian loans but, for goodness sake, call it as it is. This is base racism questioning.

Members interjecting:

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition.

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: Sir, that was totally uncalled for. I ask you to ask him to withdraw. I object to being called a racist through asking a simple question in parliament.

The SPEAKER: I think it would be best perhaps if the Deputy Premier did withdraw.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I referred to it as racism politics, sir, but I withdraw if the Leader took offence.

The SPEAKER: The member for Napier.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Premier—if he wants to find out something someone said, if he goes over to the other side rather than calling across the chamber. The member for Napier.

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