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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-16 Daily Xml
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HOUSING SA

The Hon. S.G. WADE (15:17): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion a question in relation to public housing.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The Playford council has drawn to my attention the different treatment of public housing in its area. Playford Alive has been transferred to the Urban Renewal Authority. The Playford suburbs renewal area has remained with Housing SA. The council is concerned the continued sale of public housing in the Playford suburbs renewal area without an urban renewal plan undermines the viability of future urban renewal options. I ask the minister:

1. What proportion of Housing SA houses across the state is being transferred to the Urban Renewal Authority and on what criteria?

2. Will all Housing SA public housing assets in the Playford suburbs urban renewal area be transferred to the Urban Renewal Authority?

3. In the meantime, will the government accede to council's desire that it suspend sale of public housing properties in the Playford suburbs project area until a decision has been made with respect to the delivery of an urban renewal program?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (15:18): I thank the honourable member for his most important question about the Urban Renewal Authority and the government's urban renewal agenda. As the honourable member will be aware from the government's announcements over previous weeks and months, we have set up a new authority called the Urban Renewal Authority. Its aim and objective is to renew the urban infrastructure of our city. It is to address the future housing needs of this state as we grow into the future. It is about no longer building, as we used to do, Housing SA properties in one neighbourhood and having no tenant mix, or no housing mix in that neighbourhood, essentially setting up for the future a housing ghetto.

What we have done in the very first instance is transfer properties to the URA, for which they will be responsible in developing a housing mix and a new community style. They will be working with local governments and communities to actually get outcomes where we no longer have ghettos but mixed communities: communities where we have affordable rental, affordable housing sold to people on low incomes, and housing sold on the general market.

We are working to have private property developers working with government, and not-for-profit NGOs to provide low rental housing and also housing for sale. The whole idea of this concept is to actually grow social housing in South Australia at a time when social housing is under an incredible amount of stress. Honourable members should know—

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Honourable members should know—

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: —that it has not been for about 30 years that the federal government has made allocations to the states for matching grants to build new social housing.

An honourable member: How long?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: The federal government has not been doing it for decades. What they have done—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: What they have done is address areas in the community which the federal government thinks are more needy in terms of private rental accommodation. The federal government's view is that public housing is well secured in South Australia and the other states but that people in the highest need in housing are those in the private rental market, and that is where the federal government has been directing for many, many years now its assistance through the Commonwealth Rental Assistance Scheme (CRA).

What we will be doing, in conjunction with the not-for-profit sector, and for the private property developers, is working up new plans to redevelop those old housing trust areas to have new, vibrant communities based around transport oriented developments, mixed tenancies and mixed tenure developments to last our communities into the future.

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