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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
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Motions

Housing Trust Tenants Association

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (11:30): I move:

That this house—

(a) condemns the Housing Trust Tenants Association for their despicable scare campaign and their misleading and deceptive conduct during the March 2014 election; and

(b) calls on any member of parliament who assisted the Housing Trust Tenants Association in this campaign in any way, to apologise to the thousands of South Australians who were caused great distress as a result of this disgraceful campaign.

Can I say at the outset, Madam Acting Speaker, that it is good to see you in that role there; it is good to see you in this place because we need fresh ideas, fresh faces but, above all, we need people in this place, on both sides, who are going to uphold the dignity of the political process in South Australia and the reputation of politicians.

Unfortunately, over the last number of political campaigns, we have seen some dirty tricks and there is just no way we can walk away from that—seriously dirty tricks. We saw the dodgy how-to-vote cards that were masquerading as Family First, and we saw that terrible racial slur on the very upstanding—very attractive but very intelligent—candidate for Elder, trying to bring racial taint into her campaign. It was atrocious and I just hope beyond hope that the member for Elder had nothing to do with that and I believe she is a better person than that.

I do not know who did it, but I tell you that what we have got down to now is a level that is indescribable, and that is what the Housing Trust Tenants Association did in this last election. The Housing Trust Tenants Association are a strange group—and I will talk a bit more about them later on, I think they are a group, they might be a group of one or two, but they are a group—who are out there proclaiming to be affiliated with the Labor Party. The assistant secretary proudly proclaims herself as a member of the Labor Party. She is a prolific 'twitterer' and I will remind the house what the assistant secretary said on her Twitter site on 10 May this year:

Duncan McFetridge—

spelled with two t's which is an insult, that is the Irish half of the family—

shadow social housing minister is still whingeing about the HTTA warning letters we sent out during the election. So glad we did.

The assistant secretary of the Housing Trust Tenants Association is completely unrepentant for having run one of the dodgiest and dirtiest scare campaigns I have seen in my time involved in politics. It is not just me who is saying this, it is not just members of the Liberal Party, and it is not just the candidates who were defeated partly because of this campaign. Let's read what Shelter SA, one of the peak housing bodies in South Australia, had to say about this in a media release from Dr Alice Clark, Executive Director:

A discredited Adelaide lobby group is frightening vulnerable Housing SA tenants by writing to them and striking fear into their hearts about losing their homes leading up to the South Australian election.

'Shelter SA, the peak body for housing in South Australia is appalled,' Executive Director Dr Alice Clark said today. 'Any group who is prepared to scaremonger pensioners and people with disabilities should be ashamed.'

Dr Clark went on to say:

It is not known how the group obtained the addresses of Housing SA tenants…

And I will say a bit more about that later on. The letter that was sent out by the Housing Trust Tenants Association—the post office box, and we have heard about the issues there—made claims, and I will just read the first part of the letter:

I think tenants of public housing have much to fear if a Liberal government is elected in South Australia on March 15th. I base this opinion on what Liberal state governments have done interstate and what the South Australian Liberals said they would do before the last state election in 2010.

Did the Housing Trust Tenants Association attempt to come and see me, attempt to phone me, email me or talk to me? No, not at all, other than just their Twitter diatribe; that is all it was about. Did they come to any of the forums I was at in Elizabeth: the disability forums, the housing forums, the numbers of forums I attended? No, but they put this letter out there. It is a disgraceful attempt to scare some of the most vulnerable people in South Australia.

The sad part about this letter going out, though, is that the member for Frome, the now minister in the Labor government, also forwarded this letter on behalf of the Housing Trust Tenants Association. He did regret that later on, but the damage was done. People were scared, people were being frightened out of their wits. Their mental health was being seriously affected by this scare campaign. It is one of the lowest things that I have ever seen a group do.

In my motion, I call on every member of this place to disassociate themselves from this campaign and to apologise to the people who are Housing Trust tenants if they had anything to do with this campaign, because I am sure they would not have wanted to have the consequences that came from this campaign, the scare, the fear that was put into people, the distress and anxiety that this campaign caused.

Not only was that letter sent out on numbers of occasions to different areas in South Australia, but DL flyers were also put out there: 'The State Liberal Party strives to support South Australians to transition to private rental.' That was 2010; it was not a 2014 policy. The Housing Trust Tenants Association did not come and talk to me about that; did not say anything to me about that; did not want to know anything about that other than running a discredited campaign, when I had said on ABC radio, on FIVEaa and on Radio Adelaide that the Liberal Party was not doing any of the things that were being done by interstate governments and that had been put in previous policies.

We were not about putting anybody's future at risk. It was about making sure that South Australians were going to get the very best future they possibly could. But no, the Housing Trust Tenants Association did not care about the mental health of the tenants in the Housing Trust.

Can I say, the first house, the first home, that my family had in South Australia was at Hogarth Road, Elizabeth South. It was a Housing Trust house, so I know the types of people who live in Housing Trust houses. My brother and my mother still live out in the northern suburbs. I go out there frequently. I know the stresses and strains out there. I have spoken to the councils. I have been out to speak to the organisations that support these people in Housing Trust today, never mind those years ago when my family moved out there.

It is not about the Liberal Party not knowing what they are talking about. We have credibility in this area. We go and talk to people. This is an atrocious campaign that is obviously backed by the Labor Party, because I have not heard anybody here come out and say, 'Well, it was nothing to do with us; we did not condone this in any way, shape or form.' I am looking forward to the responses from the other side, because it is going to be very interesting reading and listening to them.

The Housing Trust Tenants Association has gone above and beyond to scare people. We had this DL flyer warning: 'That was the SA Liberals' plan in 2010, pushing people into private rentals; don't vote Liberal in March.' Then they quote from the New South Wales Liberal government and the Queensland Liberal government and say that is what we are going to do. Despite the numbers of times I publicly, on radio and in public forums, said that this is not what we were going to do, they kept up this campaign. They just did not care; it was all about scaring people.

We do know that the two biggest motivators in life are fear and greed. Well, they were just scaring the hell out of these people, the most vulnerable people. Most of our tenants in Housing Trust now are people who have financial strains, they have disabilities, they have mental health issues, they are out of the prison system, the mental health system. There are very vulnerable people. We should be making sure that we are not doing anything to endanger their mental health. This is what the Housing Trust Tenants Association has done.

Just a few days ago, what did they say on the Twitter feed: 'We are so glad we did.' They are still so glad they did. Go and tell that to the people. I will read some of the emails I have and I will tell you some of the stories that were given to us, various members in this place, from affected people, the people who were hit right between the eyes by this scare campaign.

The other deals that the Housing Trust Tenants Association put out were along the same lines. They were just trying to reiterate old policy: what was happening interstate, could you afford $30 a week? And they were even reaching out to say what was happening in England, for heaven's sake! It was just a terrible, terrible campaign.

I was really alarmed, though, when I saw on the Twitter feed of the assistant secretary of the Housing Trust Tenants Association that this person had shared a National Liberty Federation photo with Adolf Hitler in it. The assistant secretary said that her site was hacked. I believe her on this, and I think that was a terrible thing to do, because I do not think any one in the Housing Trust Tenants Association would want to be associated with Hitler.

They certainly are associated with the Labor Party, because we have a picture here with a big headline banner on it—I am not allowed to display it, but I will show members afterwards—with 'South Australian Labor' written in bright red, and we have the Premier, the assistant secretary of the Housing Trust Tenants Association and the now member for Lee all smiling in this picture. I wonder if they are still glad about the way this latest campaign was run. I wonder if they are proud of what happened. Let me just read some of the letter that I actually sent out to some of the people who contacted me. A candidate sent out a very similar letter. This is to a lady at Croydon Park, Mr Speaker. It states:

Many SA Housing residents have personally contacted me about a letter they have received from the Housing Trust Tenants Association making a number of statements which are completely incorrect. Let me reassure you that the Liberal Party of SA does not support and will not support the introduction of a bedroom tax…

And then I continue on in that letter to say:

We are not going to do anything that has been associated with New South Wales, Queensland or the claims that are being impugned—

or implied—is that the correct word, Mr Speaker, I am sure you will correct me—

by the Housing Trust Tenants Association.

It was just an atrocious campaign. I encourage every remember in this place to google the Housing Trust Tenants Association. Google them; see if you can find out who they are. We have this person, the assistant secretary, out there all the time. Well, who is the secretary? Who is the president? Who is the treasurer? Do they have meetings, do they have minutes, do they have financial accounts? Can I join? How do I join? If you try to phone you do not get an answer. I would like to join; in fact, the first thing you learn in politics is how to count.

Perhaps we should do the numbers on these people and get some honesty in there, some respect for the people they are representing, because we have not got that from this association which proudly professes to be run by a person who is a member of the Labor Party. Let me read just a couple of emails here about the impact of this campaign. This is from a lady who I will not identify. She says:

I am a housing trust tenant and the Housing Trust Tenants Association has sent letters to tenants to not vote Liberal because they are going to sell the house we are living in and we will all be out on our backsides and have to rent privately. Please don't let us be evicted as the Housing Trust Tenants Association is saying is going to happen.

That was just one. I do know of another case from one of our members in this place. A tenant's mother phoned the member. This particular tenant was autistic. He had threatened suicide because he thought he was going to be thrown out of his house. This man's mother contacted one of our members to see what was going on. We had to go above and beyond to reassure this young fellow that we were not going to do anything like this, we were not going to force him out of his home. For him to be put in that situation because of this campaign, as a direct result of the Housing Trust Tenants Association campaign, is a disgrace. I have another letter here from another lady:

On the morning of 3 February I was informed I was very ill with cancer and the diagnosis hitting me with such force then came another cruel blow. That evening in hospital I was given the warning letter from the Housing Trust Tenants Association which absolutely knocked me back even further. Since 3 of February it has been such a hard battle but with this association and the political party behind them what they have caused myself and others is disgraceful and more than I can deal with.

She goes on:

Today I received a colour printed brochure from the same association with the same warnings. I can no longer cope with the distress this is causing me at a time when all my energy needs to be spent on coping with my cancer.

They are the sorts of people who have been affected by this campaign. We do not need to go this low, we do not need to go there. It is just something we do not need to do. Let's just see what the radio journalist Leon Byner was saying—and I am reading from media monitoring here—on 21 February.

Leon Byner says he has asked the South Australian government how the tenants association had the resources to data match information from local councils and sight the electoral rolls at the Australian Electoral Office. Byner says he was messaged by the office of the housing minister, the Hon. Mr Piccolo saying that the information on tenants was freely available by data matching, but this is a furphy because councils record landlords instead of tenants. Byner says someone must have leaked the tenants list to SA Labor, who has given it to the tenants association.

So that is what that very powerful radio commentator Leon Byner was saying. I do not disagree with him one bit. The next day Leon Byner was interviewing political commentator John Hepworth. John Hepworth said here about this campaign:

The Housing Trust Tenants Association pamphlet. Hepworth says he doubts the information about Housing Trust tenants is publicly available, but the SA government would have access to the information. Hepworth says the contents of the pamphlet is concerning as it was sent to vulnerable people. Hepworth says politics should not be fought in a dirty way, misrepresenting one side of politics to the vulnerable.

This is not just the Liberal Party condemning this—every person in this place should be condemning this type of campaign. If there is a genuine grievance, come and talk to me. If there is a genuine issue, come and speak to me, sit down with me, work it out so that we are not affecting the most vulnerable South Australians with dirty tricks campaigns like this. I cannot wait—in fact, I am going to wait because I am no longer on Twitter—but I bet there is a Twitter diatribe from the Housing Trust Tenants Association again, because we know—she said it just a few days ago—that she is glad she did this campaign.

The Hon. J.M. Rankine: Why aren't you on Twitter?

The SPEAKER: I thought the member was on Twitter.

Dr McFetridge: Not any more—I've closed my account.

The Hon. J.M. Rankine: Why, why?

Dr McFetridge: I just can't be bothered any more—just reading diatribe.

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Education.

Dr McFetridge: This'll be good!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Education and Child Development) (11:46): It would be nice if the member for Morphett told the house what happened to him when he was on Twitter. He was lambasting the secretary of the Housing Trust Tenants Association, but we know why Duncan's not on Twitter anymore. At least Julie did not have to go out there and pay a fine!

Dr McFetridge: I haven't paid a fine.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: You didn't pay a fine?

Dr McFetridge: No.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Who took the photograph with a camera?

The SPEAKER: A point of order.

Ms CHAPMAN: The minister is just engaging in debate with one of the members of the parliament. She hasn't even started her address.

The SPEAKER: It is not question time, it's debate time.

Ms CHAPMAN: Debate across the chamber, Mr Speaker, is not correct.

The SPEAKER: I will attend to that. The minister.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Thank you. Let us talk about the pot calling the kettle black when the finger and the arms wave across the chamber all the time. The premise of this debate is dirty tricks in election campaigns. The dirtiest trick you can play on the community in this state and in this country is not to tell them what you are going to do. The Liberal Party ran a small target campaign, they didn't want to tell people—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I call the member for Adelaide to order.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: They didn't want to tell people what they were going to do—

Ms Sanderson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I warn the member for Adelaide for the first time.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: We just heard the member for Morphett quote the Leon Byner show. I can quote the ABC, where on at least seven occasions the member for Morphett was asked to produce the housing policy for his party. He said, 'I've held forums', but they said, 'Where's the piece of paper?' He is complaining that people are referring to the 2010 campaign, but not once did he produce a policy, not once did he produce a piece of paper, and if he did I will challenge him—

Dr McFetridge interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I call the member for Morphett to order.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —to table that piece of paper. Table that policy. You never had one.

Dr McFetridge interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I warn the member for Morphett for the first time.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: A point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: What is the point of order?

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: 104.

The SPEAKER: What is that?

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Addressing remarks through the chair, not directly to members across the chamber.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I uphold the point of order. I wish to be addressed!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: The Liberal Party, sir, the member for Morphett, could not produce a policy, not one piece of paper that indicated what—

Mr Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Morialta is called to order.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —they were committing to. If they were so concerned about people in housing trust properties, why didn't they—

Dr McFetridge interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Morphett is warned for the second and final time.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Why didn't you come out with a policy? Why didn't you put it on your website?

Mr PENGILLY: Point of order.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Because you never had one!

The SPEAKER: Point of order, member for Finniss.

Mr PENGILLY: Sir, I am well known for being hard of hearing, but I don't need to be shouted at by the minister.

The SPEAKER: No, shouting is permitted in here. Minister.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Thank you, sir.

Mr PEDERICK: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Point of order from the member for Hammond.

Mr PEDERICK: Point of order, Mr Speaker: I believe the minister is misleading the house because we did have a policy. I am just looking at it on my iPad at the moment, and it was on the website.

The SPEAKER: Are you raising a matter of privilege?

Mr PEDERICK: I am just—

The SPEAKER: Are you raising a matter of privilege?

Mr PEDERICK: Well, I can raise a matter of privilege—absolutely, sir—and I ask the member to withdraw, because we did have a policy and it was on our website.

The SPEAKER: No, no—are you raising a matter of privilege, because if you are, I will investigate it.

Mr PEDERICK: I am asking the minister to withdraw.

The SPEAKER: Well, you just disagree with the minister and accordingly I call you to order. You are out of order. You are just making an impromptu speech. Minister.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Thank you, sir. All the Housing Trust Tenants Association and all people living in housing trust properties had to go on was the 2010 policy: the only policy I could find during the campaign and the only policy they could find. The 2010 policy, which the member for Morphett has verified, stated:

The State Liberal Party strives to support South Australians to transition into private rental and home ownership through the provision of public housing and supported accommodation.

I do not know one person—not one of my constituents who is in a public housing home has ever come to me and said, 'Will your government help me transition into private rental?' What a joke. We know in the correspondence that was put out by the Housing Trust Tenants Association that that in fact is the policy they are implementing in Queensland. So, there is form, sir.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader is called to order.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Their policy goes on to say:

Blocks of flats are also likely to be valued accommodation.

Again, I have never had one constituent say to me, 'Could you take me out of my home and please put me into a flat?'

Ms Sanderson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Adelaide is warned for the second and final time.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: In that section of the policy, it concludes with:

In addition, almost half of the current tenants in public housing have been there for 8 years or more.

So, what would that tell you, sir, if you were a public housing tenant? That we strive to support you into private rental, blocks of flats are pretty good accommodation, and many of you have been in public housing for eight years—what would that tell you? Yes, sir, I had people come to my office and say, 'We are concerned about this policy. What can you do? Can you help us?' My response is, 'I am not responsible for Liberal Party policy, and if they can't put something out that refutes this, it stands.'

If they were so concerned about this, if they thought the information put out by the Housing Trust Tenants Association was inaccurate, why didn't they lodge a complaint with the Electoral Commission? All they did was complain that a domestic violence victim—a domestic violence worker—was required to put her home address on that literature. That is what they required her to do.

Dr McFETRIDGE: That's not true.

The SPEAKER: That's a bogus point of order and the member for Morphett will leave the chamber for the next hour.

Dr McFETRIDGE: Just tell the truth, Jen. Just tell the truth.

The SPEAKER: If the member says another word, I will name him.

The honourable member for Morphett having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: They ran a small target strategy. They did not want to put a policy out because they did not want people to know what they were going to do. On the ABC, Matthew Abraham asked the member for Morphett:

...the party does strive to support South Australians to transition to private rental and the Housing Trust Tenants Association say in plain English that means moving people out of their trust homes into private rental.

The member for Morphett says:

Matt, that was the 2010 policy; it's not our policy now.

He goes on and on, and then Bevan says:

But…you say that was the 2010 policy…have you updated and can people go to a website and see a 2014 policy?

The member for Morphett says:

I've had so many forums on everything from social housing to disability where people have [unclear] and talked to us about this.

No no no—

says Mr Bevan.

I've done media on it—

he says.

Yeah I'm sure you've done—

said Mr Bevan—

a lot of forums but is there something in black and white that people can go to as a 2014 housing trust policy?

It hasn't been announced yet—

says the member for Morphett—

but there—if people are concerned about that they're welcome to call us.

Mr Abraham:

Well maybe…rather than playing these funny small-target strategies where you're holding back your policies and eking them out, if this is such an issue to you and this has been going on for some time, these letters have been out from the Housing Trust Tenants Association maybe you ought to get your policies out there; maybe you ought to let people know what your policy is?

He did not think it was a small-target policy. Mr Abraham says:

…we're less than two weeks from election day now, don’t you reckon the Housing Trust tenants deserve…

The member for Morphett says:

[we're going] on radio, we're doing newspapers

Abraham: Yeh how about you get your policy out there?

Everybody who is concerned in this can phone us, they can talk to us, this is about talking to people and we've been [something] a long time now. This is not just the last few minutes; we've been doing this for months and months…

Mr Abraham:

When are you going to—yeeeess, when are you going to get your policy out?

The policy's really out there—

the member for Morphett said. Mr Abraham said, 'Okay.' The member for Morphett:

It may not be in a printed piece of paper you could hand somebody but everybody knows. The Shelter SA [knows] Community Housing [knows]…

Mr Abraham:

Well when are you going to launch…?

…the whole sector knows exactly what we're thinking—

said the member for Morphett. Mr Abraham:

Yes, I know all that but as you know, governments are held accountable; parties, when they [want to] become government, are held accountable for what is the written word. When are you going to get your Housing Trust policy out?

Matt—

says the member for Morphett—

I think if you phone Shelter SA…

It goes on and on. Mr Abraham says:

When are you going to release your Housing Trust policy Duncan McFetridge?

The member for Morphett says:

Matt it's not about putting out a piece of paper.

Mr Abraham:

Do you have one?

…[the] Housing Trust policy Duncan McFetridge?

Matt it’s not about [the] piece of paper.

Abraham: Well why don't you release it?

…the message [is] out there—

he says.

Time expired.

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (11:58): May I first indicate that I support the motion before the house and thank the member for Morphett for bringing it. I have met Ms Julie Macdonald. In fact, I had quite a long association with her when I was opposition spokesperson for social housing. It was during the Weatherill era of ministerial position.

It was an era in which the government of the day determined that they would dismiss all advocacy groups for Housing Trust tenants, which caused some considerable outrage. It was an era in which the then minister (now Premier) announced that he was going to sell 8,000 Housing Trust houses over a period of 10 years. It was an era in which the then minister (now Premier) announced that he would impose water rates on Housing Trust tenants and dismissed, categorically, any consideration of actually putting in individual water meters so that tenants could have a water bill commensurate with their consumption, as distinct from a sharing of all those in multiple-dwelling Housing Trust facilities.

It was an era in which Ms Macdonald, along with others, lit up the talkback radio stations with their objections to how Housing Trust tenants were being treated. It was complemented by others who complained about multiple Housing Trust properties being left vacant for months, sometimes years, while we had an ever-growing Housing Trust waiting list for people to have access.

So, yes, I have met Ms Macdonald, and in those years pre-2010 she was very active in the space of trying to ensure that tenants were given a fair go under the then scurrilous decisions of the Labor government. I was a little surprised to see during the election campaign that the one-person Housing Trust Tenants Association—that one person being Ms Julie Macdonald—penned a letter to a number of parties directly, and personally addressed to Housing Trust tenants in a number of electorates across the state, including the electorate of Frome, I note.

During the election campaign, this came to my attention. I was concerned about it. I, like other members, have expressed, and no doubt will again in this debate, the absolute despair and distress that placed tenants in when they received it. Individually, comfort and advice was given to those who contacted us but, so concerned was I about this, that I sent a letter in in March to Mr Jim Hallion, then chief executive officer of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, asking that he cause an investigation to be undertaken as to the access of confidential South Australian Housing Trust information.

Because when the proverbial shit hit the fan over this issue post the election, there was a plaintive response by Ms Macdonald that she had obtained the information necessary for her to distribute these letters from the local council. In fact, there had been no confirmation as to how she obtained the names of the tenants in occupation of the Housing Trust addresses because, as you know, on 3 March in a radio interview she confirmed that she had sourced the Housing Trust addresses from local councils but provided no information on how she obtained the names.

You, sir, would be familiar, I am sure, with the fact that the names of the tenants are not provided by the South Australian government; indeed, they are confidential. They are not provided by local councils. They do not even know them. This information cannot be accessed by freedom of information applications, so you might be surprised to hear that, in response to my letter of concern and the request for Mr Hallion to investigate this matter as to whether there had been a breach of the provision of information by a person or persons within the South Australian government—a copy of which went to the Auditor-General and to Ms Joslene Mazel, the chief executive of the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion—the response came, firstly, that there had been an investigation, that they had found no personal evidence of breach in the department (a confirmation of the radio interview which of course only dealt with the question of addresses and not the names). and then there was a follow-up telephone call from Jan Ellis of Mr Hallion's office indicating that this matter had been referred to the Crown Solicitor's Office.

More recently, in fact only a few weeks ago, a letter arrived confirming that the matter was to be further investigated. I have, of course, caused a further letter to be sent now to Ms Sandy Pitcher, the acting CEO of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, outlining the fact that there was no capacity to access this information from the local council—it was not available from them and it is not available via freedom of information—and that we do want this matter properly investigated and that we do want some answers. I just wish to place on the record that, yes, there has been a complaint raised about this, I would suggest at the highest level.

The Auditor-General is now obviously seized of it, at least by my correspondence and perhaps by others. The reality is that the conduct of Ms Macdonald in relation to presenting a letter which she had not either identified as being from the Liberal Party, their position on the matter and/or outlining this information, given a history of her previous advocacy for Housing Trust tenants, firstly I found surprising and now I find very concerning because of the nature of the information that was in there, which of course was denied by the Liberal Party, but secondly which had been sent to individually addressed and identified names of the tenants, the occupiers of those Housing Trust properties. We are yet to see the end of this investigation and I look forward to when it is properly investigated. It maybe the Auditor-General will have something to say about it as well.

I just remain very concerned that the tactics for this type of thing is introduced in elections. Equally, I remain very concerned that some persons—at least on the face of it—appear to have access to secret and protected information which is not only contrary to the privacy of the individual tenant—and they have certain laws to protect to them—but that information has found its way into the hands of the 'one-woman show', namely the South Australian Housing Trust Association. It has now been utilised to access and write to what appears to be thousands of people across of South Australia to put the fear of God into them during an election campaign tactic. That is bad enough and we are yet to see the investigation.

I suggest that the Minister for Public Sector Employment be alert as to what that inquiry is and that she should certainly be looking at this aspect as well because it is an important one—every minister should be. But at the very least, if the Premier has put his head in the sand, the matter has gone to other independent authorities and I expect it to be properly investigated.

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (12:06): I would like to continue on with a transcript that was read by the minister about some of these issues recently where Matthew Abraham was questioning Duncan McFetridge. The transcript shows:

(Abraham: That's why I'm asking questions in the way I am.) [unclear] how this works, you know exactly what we'll do, you know exactly what we've been doing and I think you know exactly how we've been out there—(Bevan: Okay.)—and you ask anybody.

And then they then go on to transition and talk to Julie Macdonald about this. It is interesting that the opposition has been going on and on about unfair tactics and their concerns about the Electoral Commission. There have been various other accusations in this house—and in a very grandiose way—since the election.

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond is warned for the first time.

Mrs VLAHOS: It is interesting that the complaint that was actually made was only about the address and it was never about the content. It was never about the substance of the matter that Ms Macdonald was talking about in her letter which every South Australian housing tenant has a right to have a genuine concern—

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Point of order, member for Stuart.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: I would just like to read the motion for the member for Taylor.

The SPEAKER: No, the motion is before us, what's the point of order?

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: It is 128.

The SPEAKER: Its relevance?

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Yes, sir.

The SPEAKER: That is a bogus point of order and I call the member for Stuart to order. The member for Taylor appears to me to be entirely relevant to the terms of the motion.

Mrs VLAHOS: The fact of the matter is that the Housing Trust Association has every right to defend its constituency and the people it represents about genuine concerns about policy that could occur in this state—

An honourable member: 'Could occur'—it was not our policy.

Mrs VLAHOS: I suggest you learn your standing orders and stop interjecting, new member.

Members interjecting:

Mrs VLAHOS: Anyway, there was no such complaint lodged and it is a snivelling attempt to confuse the matter and it shows you how the opposition does not know the Electoral Act and cannot conduct itself in an appropriate way with the Electoral Commission.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:08): I wish to support the motion by the member for Morphett:

That this house—

(a) condemns the Housing Tenants Association for their despicable scare campaign and their misleading and deceptive conduct during the March 2014 election; and

(b) calls on any member of parliament who assisted the Housing Trust Tenants Association in this campaign in any way, to apologise to the thousands of South Australians who were caused great distress as a result of this disgraceful campaign.

I would like to ask the member for Frome what he is going to do in relation to part (b) of this motion, because he distributed these letters throughout his electorate.

He actually made comments to media outlets that denied it was a scare campaign. Well, it was an absolute scare campaign. It had absolutely nothing to do with our policy in regard to public housing. I must say that the constituents of Frome, and the constituents right across this state, need to know why this stuff can be put out and why it is promoted by people who are now ministers of the Crown peddling this absolute nonsense across the state. I will just read our policy about the Liberal commitment to our Housing Trust tenants in South Australia. It states:

The State Liberals are committed to ensuring social housing continues to be provided to those who need it most.

The State Liberals are also committed to providing affordable public housing for people in need, while reducing waiting times for all those who are eligible for housing assistance.

The State Liberals will ensure that social housing is managed better than it has been under the Weatherill Labor Government and will support residents to strengthen and build better local communities.

The State Liberal Party does not support, and never has supported, the introduction of a bedroom tax.

The State Liberals have ruled out any policies that would force the removal of tenants from their Housing Trust homes, despite the recent fear and smear campaign by members of the Labor Party claiming the contrary.

The only exception to this is those disruptive tenants who make their neighbours' lives a misery. The overwhelming majority of public housing tenants just want and deserve to have a peaceful and secure home. This is what they will get with the State Liberals.

The State Liberals will also ensure our housing assets are managed more efficiently—we will make better use of untenanted properties.

If elected, a Marshall Liberal Government will work with Housing Trust tenants to ensure their rights are upheld, their voices heard, and better outcomes for tenants are achieved.

So, there is our policy, in black and white, and it was on our website prior to the election. I think that it is an absolute disgrace that Julie Macdonald and the so-called Housing Trust Association (and it might be a group of one; I am not sure) put out this absolutely alarming letter to at least 790 homes in my electorate. I had to do what I could to work with the local councils to find out the addresses. I could not get access to the names; I could write only to the resident, which is fair. So, I have to wonder: how did the Housing Trust Tenants Association get the names of these people. I saw some of the envelopes, handwritten addresses on envelopes, written to these tenants. Did they not think that people would come to me about this issue? Well, of course they did.

I remember one lady, aged I think about 83, who came into my electorate office, and she was literally shaking. I hope that those on the other side who masterminded this dirty tricks campaign, and Julie Macdonald, are proud of that. That is only one; there were others who came into my office as well. But this one lady stood out. She was physically standing there shaking. It is beyond reproach that the Weatherill Labor Party will do anything it takes to get into power and scare the bejesus out of elderly citizens, and that is exactly what they did—our elderly and needy and people who need that housing support. Yet they are out there on the streets telling them that they are going to be kicked out of their homes. It was a disgraceful pack of lies; that is all it was. It was an absolutely disgraceful pack of lies. To see that women in my office, and it was heartwarming, to say the least, to me that I could—

An honourable member: Heartbreaking.

Mr PEDERICK: Heartbreaking, sorry—using the wrong words. What I am trying to say is that it was—

The SPEAKER: Also, with 'beyond reproach', I think you meant 'beyond the pale'.

Mr PEDERICK: It was heartwarming that I could talk with her and work with her and convince her that there were no such plans by the Liberal Party in this state. I find it one of the most terrible acts, apart from the other acts of the Labor party over the years—their dirty tricks campaign, Family First T-shirts, the Write to Isobel campaign, which I believe was authorised by Kyam Maher at the time, who is now a member in the other place.

Mr Pengilly: Don't forget what they did to Habib.

Mr PEDERICK: Yes, I am just getting to that—and then the bit about Can you trust Habib. That was an absolutely disgraceful campaign. The campaign by the Housing Trust Tenants Association, the Can you trust Habib campaign and all the other dirty tricks of the Labor Party in this state show how far they will go to keep power. It is no wonder we now have a select committee set up in the other place to look into electoral matters, and there is a bill to have a cross-party standing committee of parliament to look at these matters as well.

You do not wonder why the people of this state treat politicians as they do when you see what goes on. It is not just what went on during the election with all the dirty tricks but also what we have seen since. We have seen a former SAS soldier, a Liberal who has served here for 17 years, cross the floor to take his 30 pieces of silver.

Getting back to the matter in hand, I wonder what members opposite will do about all the pain and suffering that they caused people across this state who have to use public housing. As I said, the elderly, who are physically scared and mentally scarred, fear being kicked out of their homes or having to pay a bedroom tax because they might have a spare bedroom—a third room or a second room—in their housing trust accommodation that they do not vitally need to use. It goes beyond the pale, Mr Speaker, as to what lengths people will go to win elections.

I hope Julie Macdonald is proud of herself. She got the result she wanted: she got the Labor Party re-elected in South Australia. I am sure the appropriate kudos or benefits will be funnelled her way, whatever they are. They will be sorted out in back rooms full of smoke.

Members interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: They are telling me they are healthy on the other side, now, that they are smoke free. Okay, I believe that. What I would like to say to the other side is that you need to find your hearts. You need to think about the people of this state, not just the political outcomes you look for. Think about the disgraceful things you do to mislead the people of this state about what you stand for. You have been making out that you are Family First candidates, and trying to link a candidate to a bullet-ridden place in Beirut. It is absolutely disgraceful activity.

Some people say to us on this side that we do not get on because we are the good guys. Well, I am glad I am with the good guys. I am really pleased that I am with the good guys and that I do not have to stoop to such disgraceful acts. It has happened in federal campaigns as well where there were accusations that the member for Boothby was in Fiji when, obviously, he wasn't.

Mr Gardner: There's a link to that.

Mr PEDERICK: Yes, there's a link—a link to the present member for Elder. They will stoop to all levels. There is no end to the depth that Labor will stoop to get their outcomes in this state, and it is time it was sorted out and it is time action was taken.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland) (12:19): It was heartwarming to come in here on Tuesday night and get the rerun of the 2010 election and now we are getting the rerun of the 2014 election. It is not my place, really, to offer advice to the Liberal Party about how they might win elections because, quite frankly, I do not really want them to, but I suspect it is a fairly basic one, and that is, do not keep re-prosecuting past elections. The next election is a different election: try to deal with that. But, keep going if you like, that's fine.

The central tenet of the argument here is that it was somehow false and misleading, that the allegations contained in these letters—which, I might add, I am told were translated also into Serbo-Croatian, Vietnamese and Greek, which I think is particularly inventive. I do not think you would ever do that, sir, but whoever did do that is taking particular care to get their message across at the right time. Anyway, that is beside the point. I would have thought that the particular issue here is that somehow this is some false and misleading campaign. If that is the case, there are provisions under the Electoral Act, section 113—Misleading advertising. Subsection (4) provides:

If the Electoral Commissioner is satisfied that an electoral advertisement contains a statement purporting to be a statement of fact that is inaccurate and misleading to a material extent, the Electoral Commissioner may request the advertiser to do one or more of the following:

There was no such complaint from the very party that is in here now complaining to this house about the content of that particular letter. If it was wrong or misleading to a material extent, why did they not complain about it? Why did they not make a complaint about the content of that letter? It is because they could not, because it was not misleading, because they would not have won that complaint. They would not have won it to any serious extent.

The Minister for Education has come in here and read out, almost in its entirety, the interview, and I suspect the member for Taylor finished it off. It was a hilarious interview. I am glad she read out the transcript, because I remember listening to it on my way down to campaign that particular morning, and the member for Morphett sounded like Elmer Fudd, I have to say—'beh, beh, beh'. That is how it was. I do not know how you are going to put that in Hansard; I apologise for that. Perhaps say that he sounded like Elmer Fudd, and then said, 'That's all folks!' It was an amazingly hilarious interview, because he went on to refute the assertions and could not do it. He went on to insist that the mere talk of having a policy—just putting it out there in the ether that somehow we have a policy is a policy. It is almost reminiscent of, I think it was the Gillies Report, when they used to take off Andrew Peacock at the time about his lack of policies.

Coming back to providing some semblance of advice to the Liberal Party, they should know by now—after having run it on any number of election campaigns—that a small target campaign does not work. To come in here talking about compassion and the importance of public housing, which I think everybody in this house would agree is an important issue—no-one disputes that. In fact, we on this side of the house think it is so important that we think there should be policies. That is why we have written policy. That is why we had a series of written policies—

Mr Gardner: So you are selling a third of it.

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is warned.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: —outlining our position not just on this but on just about any matter that could ever be thought of in the entire history of the universe. That was very clear for everybody to see at any point during the election campaign, out very early. We did not see that from the Liberal Party. They did not think that housing policy was so important that they could put a policy out, and then everybody is left to revert back to the 2010 policy, because that is all there was. To come in here and complain about some sort of dirty tricks campaign, as if something isn't true, but not even have the gall to take it as a complaint to the Electoral Commissioner is just disgraceful. The faux outrage on that side about how they were robbed, how they were tricked—rubbish!—particularly on this matter, because what we have seen is that they could not even back their own position with a complaint to the Electoral Commissioner.

Mr Pederick: So you support all the other tricks, Tom?

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond is warned for the second time.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (12:23): There are a lot of emotions on display about this matter and it is a very difficult issue for people. I have been a member of parliament for eight years and, while there are issues that come and go to elected members' offices—sometimes very short-term ones—the longest one I have had is about the Housing Trust and the needs of the community in my electorate. So, this is an absolute dinkum issue that needs to be talked about.

I have listened to the radio interviews that were held and I have also had telephone calls from people in my constituency. I remember that I was contacted by three people, and there was one lady who I spoke to three times. She is a very strong-willed character, so she was not convinced after receiving this letter as to its validity. She wanted me to check it out. I told her immediately that, hand on my heart, I did not believe it was correct. I am lucky that I come from an area where there is only one regional paper per week on Yorke Peninsula. I contacted the newspaper and I asked them to speak to her and to get a photo of her because I wanted the information to go to all people, because I do have a lot of Housing Trust properties in my area and it scared the life out of me about what the impact of this was going to be when I knew it was not correct.

The member for Morphett has read out a lot of other facts related to comments that have been made, long-term issues and things like that. In the period before an election questions are being asked by a community on so many different areas. In many cases there are members of our community who will not question things as much, but they will accept what is in a letter and then react accordingly. When you hear the stories the member for Morphett referred to of one person who was contemplating suicide due to this threat, it is a disgrace. The emotion that comes with that really does highlight to me the importance of not just discussing this but doing everything we possibly can to ensure that it never occurs again—it cannot be allowed to.

I am quite happy and want debate to occur about facts not fantasies, and that is my fear here where a person did research on what occurred in other states and transposed it to a South Australian situation. It just was not correct. The member for Morphett is passionate about this. It is quite possible that he debated the point a bit long with you, Mr Speaker, and that has resulted in him not being in the room at the moment, but he wants to ensure that the people of South Australia have the chance to understand the importance of it.

Mr ODENWALDER: Point of order, the member is reflecting on a person's absence or not in the chamber and I believe that is unparliamentary.

Mr Pederick: He's been chucked out.

The SPEAKER: I think it is a matter of public record that, under the sessional order, the member for Morphett has been required to withdraw for an hour. He will be back.

Mr GRIFFITHS: Member for Little Para, I was in the chamber at the time of him being removed so I know the circumstances. I am not sure if you were, and that is why I stated it because you directed that he leave the room, Mr Speaker. I must say that I have heard since—indeed, the member for Frome posted it out to people—that the member for Morphett has noted in his contribution earlier today that, upon reflection, he probably, I think the words were, 'wished that that might not have occurred'. The member for Frome is acknowledging that to me now. He did so with probably the best of intentions at the time, but unfortunately an action occurred that would have alarmed his community quite significantly, too.

I must say that in my period in parliament I have had a lot of contact with the Housing SA people—my regional office is based in Port Pirie—and they are hard workers, they really are. Those people do try to find options for people and to assist them when it comes to priorities. They try to ensure that vacant properties have tenants in them. The direct contact that I have had with them has been very satisfying because I know that they are actually focused on a positive outcome all the time. I am concerned that their officers probably would have received an enormous number of contacts post this letter coming out, which would have created a lot of stress among their staff. In the vagaries that often exist at election time, they would have been wondering what the result was going to be and whether what the housing tenants association was saying was correct.

We know now that it is not. I am pleased that a lot of effort was put into making people aware very quickly that it was not true, but that level of anxiety still occurred. Words make an enormous difference to people and no matter who you are, when you read something, especially if you were brought up at a time when you got something like that you thought it was gospel—it is like when a doctor talks to you, you have to believe what they say every time—it creates a level of concern that cannot be allowed.

I hope that we have a passionate debate about this and that we are given an assurance that no members of parliament, past or present, were involved in supplying the information. I think that it is disgraceful and we need to ensure that it does not happen again. When the notices first came out I was asked about the availability of the addresses and I was also aware of the comment made on the radio by Ms Macdonald about getting them from local government. I know from my previous experience that that level of record-keeping does not exist.

I contacted a current local government CEO and asked, 'Are you aware of this information having gone out?' especially as it related to properties within that council area. He said, 'No, we do not possess that.' I am disappointed that some basis of information suddenly becomes fact and then transposes into a policy position that scares the life out of people. I hope that all members of this chamber reflect upon the importance of this issue and vote accordingly because it is one that we cannot allow to continue, and we have to ensure that it stops now.

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