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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-10-30 Daily Xml
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Housing SA

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL (15:06): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, representing the Minister for Social Housing, a question regarding vacant and contaminated public housing stock.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL: Freedom of information requests to the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion reveal that in July 2013 the number of untenanted public houses was 1,364. Whilst there will always be a proportion of houses vacant due to redevelopment projects or significant maintenance work, this indicates a very large number of vacant homes. My office regularly receives queries from tenants of Housing SA properties concerned with the availability and quality of state housing.

Among these are concerns about the quantity of asbestos in the roof and walls of public housing. As houses deteriorate over time, many people are worried about whether they are at risk from exposure to asbestos fibres. These concerns are particularly topical at the moment, with the ACT government grappling with the repercussions of the Mr Fluffy asbestos roof insulation saga in Canberra and the looming bill for hundreds of millions of dollars for the demolition of those homes. My questions to the minister are:

1. How many Housing SA properties contain asbestos?

2. What proportion of the 1,364 vacant homes is vacant due to the presence of asbestos and the need for that asbestos to be removed?

3. What arrangements are in place for the ongoing monitoring of asbestos in Housing SA properties?

4. What plans are in place to ensure that Housing SA homes that contain asbestos can be evacuated in the case of an emergency exposure, and that families can be quickly rehoused?

5. Is information about the presence of asbestos notified to prospective tenants or purchasers when Housing SA properties are leased or sold?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:08): I thank the honourable member for his most important and interesting question. I do, of course, have some understanding of the issue, having been a former minister for social housing myself. I would say that his premise that this is an unusually high number of houses to be vacant probably is not quite accurate. Given that the housing stock is somewhere around 40,000 houses, given turnover between tenants, the need for the redevelopment of suburbs and maintenance and updating of houses, it is probably about right. However, there are other issues he raised in his question, and I will take them to the minister in another place and seek a response on his behalf.

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