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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-12-05 Daily Xml
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Question Time

Housing Trust Rent

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:18): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Human Services regarding the Housing Trust.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: As we have heard a number of times in this chamber, the minister made a decision to target some of our most vulnerable South Australians with a substantial spike in the rent of some Housing Trust tenants. Can the minister confirm that her decision remains the policy of the Marshall government and that this unfair rent increase has taken effect from November, just in time for Christmas?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:19): I thank the honourable member for his questions. These decisions were announced as part of the September budget. They are very similar in nature to the increases that the former Labor government instituted in, I think it was, their 2011 budget, effective immediately. Our response has been to institute them in a staged way, following the budget, to advise tenants about their increase and do so in a gradual fashion so that people would have time to adjust.

The Hon. C.M. Scriven interjecting:

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Can I just repeat that these changes are very similar to the ones that were instituted by Labor in 2011. If I could just respond to the disorderly interjection about its being just before Christmas, I am assuming that the Labor Party would have preferred that the increases to rent would have taken place immediately. If so, that would be a very interesting message for us to communicate to tenants.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Allow the minister to answer.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: The opposition doesn't like hearing things, so they do protest a fair bit when they are reminded of their own record, but they instituted changes—they did so immediately. Perhaps that is the policy of the Labor Party, that if there are any tenant increases they should happen forthwith, that they would be the full amount rather than the Liberal Party's amount, which has been a staged amount. I note that, in a supplementary question, I think from the Hon. Ian Hunter some weeks ago now, he announced by stealth that the Labor Party's policy was that they would charge tenants based on the size of their property rather than on their capacity to pay.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Allow the minister to complete her answer.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: I do find the behaviour of the Labor opposition utterly breathtaking. To ask them about a matter that assists us to make sure that housing is sustainable—

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Hunter, please restrain yourself.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —when we inherited a basket case of a public housing system, I also find breathtaking, but I suppose that is the place that we are: they do one thing in government and in another they don't respect the fact that they were an abominable manager of these tenants.

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