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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-11-27 Daily Xml
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HOUSING SA

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (15:29): My question is to the Minister for Social Housing. Will the minister inform the council about the striking success which Housing SA has had recently in relation to state and national awards presented for their building design?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (15:30): I thank the honourable member for his most striking question.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Ridgway, you're not helping.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: A lot of finesse there, David. You would do well to emulate me in that one. On Friday 2 November—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Minister, you have the call.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Mr President, I don't pick on people who are chewing gum in the chamber and I never will. On Friday 2 November, the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) held its 2012 SA awards for excellence. The awards celebrate and reward innovation and technical achievement, and the recently completed UNO apartments at 102 Waymouth Street in the Adelaide CBD won two awards. UNO began by winning the best high density housing award and, due to that success, went on to take out the prestigious President's Award. This means that it will now be nominated for the national awards.

While it is a great building, its success can be measured by what it achieves in terms of place making and place management. UNO is the largest example of its type in Australia as far as tenant integration is concerned. It is South Australia's first example of place management and high density housing. UNO contains a mixture of tenures, home ownership from general market sales, affordable ownership and rentals, public housing and youth crisis accommodation.

I would like to acknowledge at this stage the very important role of the former housing minister, the Hon. Jennifer Rankine, and her foresight in shepherding through this project. I also acknowledge my chief executive, Jos Mazel; the commercial project manager, Bob Boorman; and the architect, Neil de la Coeur, for their support of this exciting concept.

The staff of Housing SA and the newly formed Renewal SA were crucial in seeing this project achieve what it was intended to do: build a vertical community. The place management contract for the building was won by Urban Communities, and as part of that contract the chief executive of Urban Communities, Mr George Housakos, has agreed to provide advice in extending place management advice across other areas of Housing SA's business.

The previous night, in Brisbane, Housing SA staff won two national awards and received two commendations at the Australian Housing Institute Awards. This national recognition is an outstanding effort by Housing SA and evidence of the quality and importance of the work we do throughout the state. Aboriginal programs manager, Ms Jude Allen, won the Outstanding Achievement Award, and teams from both the Office of Social Housing Coordinator and from the Community Partnerships and Growth won the Leading Practice Award. Jude's award was for an employment and workforce development strategy in the remote Indigenous communities. She designed and implemented the strategy, which delivers jobs and nationally accredited training on housing construction sites for remote communities.

The teams from Office of the Social Housing Coordinator and Community Partnerships and Growth Strategic Projects were awarded for their work in coordinating and managing the allocation of the Nation Building—Economic Stimulus Plan properties to vulnerable consumers through government and non-government providers. They were also recognised for their outstanding customer service and the transfer of the properties to the not-for-profit providers.

Commendations were awarded to policy and operations manager, Ms Jane Fletcher, for her work in the Inspirational Colleague Award, while the quality and technical services team was commended for its work in the Leading Innovation Award. Jane has shown exceptional commitment to social justice for more than 25 years in operational policy and management roles within the public and community housing sectors.

The quality and technical services team received its commendation for its initiative in developing a deed to allow Housing SA tenants to install solar PV systems on their rental properties, which supports environmental benefits and reduces the cost of energy for tenants. I understand that South Australia is still the only state or territory which currently has the deed to protect all parties in relation to the installation of solar electricity systems. While other states allow the installations with no legal agreement between the parties concerned, there is always the potential for problems if the tenant passes on, leaves the property or other unforseen problems might occur.

UNO was again to the fore recently when the Civic Trust of South Australia handed out its annual awards for 2012. UNO was nominated for and won the prestigious Hugh Stretton Award for innovation in residential development, and was a joint winner of the Urban Award in the people's choice category where the public get the opportunity to go online and vote for their favourites. The Director of Assets, Mr Paul Reardon, accepted the award on behalf of Housing SA at Parliament House last Wednesday. The Civic Trust's judges praised the development on several fronts, stating:

Social and price point diversity has been used as part of the economic funding and socialisation model of the UNO apartments and once fully occupied it will become an exemplar for city centre revitalisation, especially on the basis of cost benefit.

In spite of the scale and boldness of the project, there has been special attention to detail and fine-grain planning, and the interconnection of the building and its occupants with the public domain is exemplary, especially with the surfeit of balconies.

These latest accolades for the UNO apartments mean that the development has won four awards this month and it is still in the running for a further national award. I again congratulate those winners of both state and national awards for Housing SA, and I hope their future endeavours will continue to bring these types of successes to South Australia.

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