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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-09-19 Daily Xml
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Housing Trust Rent

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (14:47): Supplementary, Mr President.

The Hon. T.J. Stephens: Shut him down, you will get the call up. Everybody else has had the call. You are a very naughty boy.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Stephens, you are not helping. Your commentary is descending to the same level as the Leader of the Opposition. You are now on the government benches. A higher standard of behaviour is expected. The Hon. Mr Hanson.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: The Hon. Mr Ridgway is not here, otherwise he would be telling him to chuck him out.

The PRESIDENT: Do not reflect on a member who is not in the chamber, the Hon. Mr Hanson.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: Supplementary, Mr President, if I can get back to business. Given that the minister has admitted that the $10 increase to some of the most vulnerable members of our community in regard to their rents was not actually mentioned in any Liberal Party documents in the lead-up to the March election, can she also confirm that no economic analysis has been done by the Liberal Party in how this will affect those most vulnerable in our community?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:48): Part of the honourable member's supplementary is incorrect because it is not $10—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: What is it? Go on, what is it?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Alright, I can run through these for you.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: It's up to $50 a week, is it?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: No, it's not—

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, allow the minister to answer the Hon. Mr Hanson's question.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: It would be good if the honourable members opposite would actually read the budget papers.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, don't descend to their level, just answer the question.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: I am sorry, Mr President, but I do need to explain this. Where the $50 a week comes from is a separate policy where people who are on modest incomes are going to be asked in future to pay—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: That's a different rent increase, is it?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Correct—to pay additional rent. So 25 per cent to 30 per cent in consultation with the South Australian Council of Social Services, etc.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: This is question time, not a conversation.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Sorry, Mr President, was I talking over you?

The PRESIDENT: No, I can't hear. Start again, minister, because I didn't hear that.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: That is a separate policy decision. There have been issues raised. There was a story, I think in April or May this year, where the matter of people who—

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: Point of order, Mr President: what I asked was in relation to economic analysis. Whether or not the start of my question was factually correct or not is actually irrelevant to the eventual question.

The PRESIDENT: I take the point of order.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: The eventual question goes to economic analysis.

The PRESIDENT: The minister has some latitude and I'm allowing the minister to get to the point. Minister.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: I wish the members opposite would work out which of them I should respond to first, because I was—

The PRESIDENT: I would prefer if you responded to the supplementary by the Hon. Mr Hanson.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: To the supplementary.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, say that on the footsteps of parliament. I don't need to listen to it.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: As to the question of the impact on people who are on low incomes, there are many people, and the lowest-paid, of course, are Newstart recipients who will be asked to pay $67 per week for their properties. There are a number of people, my figures say approximately 4,000 Newstart recipients, who are in other types of dwellings who have been paying 25 per cent for many, many years.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Hanson.

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