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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-07-28 Daily Xml
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FINANCIAL COUNSELLING SERVICES

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg) (15:07): My question is to the Minister for Families and Communities. Does the minister agree with her colleague, the member for Croydon, that cuts to financial counselling services are to stop people from double dipping and triple dipping?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Families and Communities, Minister for Housing, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Disability) (15:07): We have brought about some reform in our Families SA—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Let me get more than three words out, will you? Thank you.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Bragg, behave!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Silence is golden—sometimes. Except when you are silent; we know when you were silent what it did.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, return to the answer. The member for Finniss will behave also.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: We have thought about some reform in the Families SA Anti-Poverty Unit. What we have done is provide the money that has been going to people who are not clients of Families SA but need financial support. We have provided that to non-government organisations to distribute throughout South Australia. There are some places where Families SA will continue to do that but, in the main, that is going to the non-government sector.

In relation to family counselling, we had about 100 people in the department who were, as a small part of their role, doing financial counselling services. That equated, throughout these 100 employees, to about one financial counselling service per week. Many of those, again, were for clients who were not Families SA clients. So, we are in the process of arranging a contract, again, with a non-government organisation to provide those financial counselling services around South Australia.

Ms CHAPMAN: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order. Member for Bragg.

Ms CHAPMAN: I think that I have listened patiently enough to all the same dribble—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Ms CHAPMAN: —that we heard in estimates—all the same absolute dribble that was totally rejected at estimates.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Ms CHAPMAN: The very clear question to this minister was: does she agree that this exercise is double dipping or triple dripping?

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Bragg, thank you for that, but the minister can answer the question as she chooses, and she is, I am sure, going to get to the end of the point soon.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Well, we know where the dribble is. We had a situation when people could go to Families SA offices or a range of non-government organisations to get financial support—circumstances where people could actually double dip, that is—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: People were going to—

Ms Chapman: You agree with this?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Will you shut up and listen? Just listen. You don't listen.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will sit down. The minister will sit down. We will stop shouting at each other across the floor. It is not on. Did you have a point of order, deputy leader, or have I just made that point?

Mr WILLIAMS: Madam Speaker, I am sure that the language used by the minister is unparliamentary.

The SPEAKER: I do not think it is unparliamentary to call to someone to shut up when they are shouting across the floor. If you shout across the floor you will be told. Minister, return back to the substance of the question.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The empty can does make the most noise, as my mum used to say.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Pengilly: You're worse than Ann Bressington.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: There are two issues: there is the financial support; and there are the financial counsellors. There were circumstances in relation to financial support where we believed that people could have been double dipping. According to the quote read out by the member for Bragg, the member for Croydon talked about double dipping of financial counselling services. I think he got mixed up.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Norwood.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Norwood.

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