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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-03-09 Daily Xml
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TRANSITIONAL ACCOMMODATION CENTRES

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:13): My question is again to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation. Can the minister advise whether the transitional accommodation centres promised by the government in 2007 have been built? In October 2007, a media statement issued by the former minister for housing announced:

...a transitional accommodation project, for which the state government has earmarked $9 million in resources...A key part of the proposal would involve short-stay accommodation accessible 24-hours a day in four key locations...including at Coober Pedy and in the City.

I refer the minister to her government's own website which says:

Help for Aboriginal people needing to move between home and services

If you are visiting metropolitan centres from a remote community, whether to visit friends and family or to attend a medical appointment, there is safe, secure and culturally appropriate accommodation that you may be able to stay at during your visit.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Families and Communities.

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Families and Communities, Minister for Housing, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Disability) (14:14): Can I start by saying that when we were advised that we had something like 100 people travelling to the city from Yuendumu—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: What was that?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for MacKillop, behave!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: What a shame the Minister for Correctional Services is not here. That was a record; it was about three seconds that time.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: When we had only a few hours' notice that we had in excess of 100 people travelling to Adelaide from—

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker: the question was about, as we have just been told, 10 or 15 people who are camped in the Parklands today, not a hundred people who arrived here months and months ago who, I understand, have actually returned.

The SPEAKER: Order! Sit down. I understand your point of order and I will listen carefully to the minister. We know what the question was about and therefore I think the minister can answer the question as she chooses, but I will listen carefully. It is a matter of relevance, but I think this is relevant.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am talking about how we accommodate remote Aboriginal people. We had in excess of a hundred people heading our way with only a few hours' notice, and I have to say that I think the efforts—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: The efforts of Housing SA, the efforts of Anglicare, the efforts of a range of non-government—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —organisations, including Anglicare—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Members on my left will behave and members on my right will stop responding to them.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —were actually quite magnificent in making sure that these people were safe and secure, that their health was looked after and that the children were safe. As we know—

Mr PISONI: Point of order, Madam Speaker—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order, member for Unley.

Mr PISONI: This question was about the building of transition centres and we are still waiting for the answer. The minister is deliberately not answering.

The SPEAKER: Sit down. I presume your point of order is relevance, and I still find this is relevant, but I am sure that the minister will get to the substance of the question quickly.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. If the member for Unley gave me more than three seconds to answer the question, he would hear the answer. We were able to accommodate those people. They were fleeing a situation where they felt they were in danger. When this—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: That was 1½ seconds. When this latest group of people came to Adelaide, discussions were held with them and they made it very clear that they were coming to Adelaide as private individuals on holiday. As the minister for Aboriginal affairs said, they were coming down here to stay with family and friends and their intention was to return. We have made sure that our agencies have been out there meeting with these people, making sure there are no health problems, ensuring that they had offers of accommodation and ensuring that no children were in danger. A range of housing options were put to these people. We have two Aboriginal transition accommodation centres operating—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —one in Ceduna and one in Port Augusta.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: There has been a lot of work done to identify appropriate sites both in the city and in Coober Pedy—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —and I am pleased to tell the house that the Aboriginal transitional housing and outreach service is due to be operational by 1 July this year.

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