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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-04-05 Daily Xml
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HOUSING SA FIRES

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (15:44): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Social Housing a question regarding fires in social housing government stock.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: It has been reported to my office, and in the media, that there have been approximately 19 to 25 fires within three months in a very small area, captured by three streets in a predominantly Housing SA area in Semaphore Park. There are allegations that there may be one or more firebugs living in the area, possibly even themselves Housing SA tenants, and claims that one was arrested after a recent fire but was released soon thereafter. My questions, therefore, to the minister are:

1. Is the minister confident that Housing SA does not having an arsonist living in a Housing SA property in the Semaphore area?

An honourable member: Nice one, Sherlock!

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: I am asking the de facto commissioner; it is not just a thought bubble.

2. Has the minister, or will the minister—

The Hon. R.P. Wortley interjecting:

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: Well, you are the original for thought bubbles, minister; you get one every now and again.

2. Has the minister opened or will the minister open up the Housing SA database and make all staff available to assist police with their inquiries into recent fires in the Semaphore Park area? A further thought bubble: it might be good for the minister to go down there and experience the trauma these people are going through.

3. When fires occur on Housing SA properties, does the minister get the Metropolitan Fire Service to inspect every fire, or at least every fire occurring in this latest series of fires, to determine whether the cause was accidental or deliberate?

4. Will the minister either contact the Minister for Police or otherwise appoint a security company to ensure 24 hour patrols are being maintained in the area for the immediate future in the interests of public safety?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (15:46): I thank the honourable member for his very important question and for his promotion to Assistant Deputy Commissioner for myself. I can say that, as many people are aware, a fire occurred in a Housing SA unit in Eagle Court, Semaphore Park, on Wednesday morning, 4 April 2012. I understand that a tenant escaped the burning building but has reportedly sustained extensive burns and smoke inhalation. I am advised that police have been investigating the incident and did arrest a person of interest, but later released that person. My understanding is that they are continuing their inquiries into this matter.

This is another salient lesson for honourable members not to jump to conclusions in these matters and to leave the relevant authorities to do their jobs. I am advised there is no, as yet, clear indication that the fire was deliberately lit (the one I have just referred to), as originally suspected, or at least reported in the media. Initial indicators, I am told, show that the fire could have originated from an interior starting point, rather than from the exterior, as was first thought.

This property was connected to a deliberately lit fire in a carport a few weeks back. Housing SA has just completed the rebuilding of the carport from the previous fire in the past week or two. Housing SA has spoken with nearby residents this morning to determine whether there is anything we can do to assist them in this situation. I am advised that the property was extensively damaged and is unfit for the tenant to return to once he is released from hospital. Housing SA is actively seeking alternative accommodation for him, as we speak.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Kandelaars, who seems to be impersonating Superman or Little Red Riding Hood.

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