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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-02-15 Daily Xml
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SOUTH AUSTRALIAN HOUSING TRUST (MISCELLANEOUS) AMENDMENT BILL

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (16:56): Introduced a bill for an act to amend the South Australian Housing Trust Act 1995. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (16:58): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

To a large extent this bill replicates the bill that lapsed due to the proroguing of parliament. I will not repeat what I said before about the bill, and I confirm the reasons for the bill are even more relevant than when I first introduced it. There is, however, one significant change to the bill and I will speak briefly about that. It states:

If the South Australian Housing Trust becomes aware that a tenant of the South Australian Housing Trust is a member of a declared organisation—

unlike the minister I am not talking about Port Power: I am talking about a declared organisation—

within the meaning of the Serious and Organised Crime Control Act 2008, the South Australian Housing Trust must give the tenant a written notice requiring the tenant to vacate the house being let to the tenant within 28 days of receiving the notice.

In light of allegations my office has received, and also with respect to the answers given by the minister today in question time about the question of bikies living in public housing, Family First believes that it is in the public interest, if not their expectation, that there should be no members of outlaw motorcycle gangs living, at taxpayers' expense, in public housing when 22,000 law-abiding, decent South Australian citizens are denied the opportunity of that housing.

We want Housing SA to give SA police access to Housing SA databases and records; for that matter, other public agencies should open up data to fight organised crime. Data matching is an important part of combating organised crime. Under this bill, if SAPOL detects Housing SA tenants or sub-tenants who are OMCG members, they will be required to vacate the premises.

I do not intend to delay the house expanding on the merits of this bill; there will be other times for that. It should be plain; it fits perfectly within the government's own bills on tackling organised crime heading this way. This is a very tough policy, singling out members of OMCGs and driving them out of crime gangs, or otherwise out of this state. I look forward to the debate and, I trust, support on this element of the bill. I commend the bill as a whole to the house, and I look forward to input from my colleagues.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. B.V. Finnigan.

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