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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-09-23 Daily Xml
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Public Housing

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:39): A supplementary.

The PRESIDENT: The final one, the Hon. Ms Bourke.

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE: Would the minister be disappointed to find that only 15 per cent of that fund had been spent during the year?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:40): The honourable member is asking me to put a particular opinion on something. I understand the way that these things can work—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —in terms of there being reasons why things might take longer than we hoped. Particularly within government, there are probity issues that need to be dealt with, particular policies which are applied, which are more than appropriate to ensure that any of the contracts that have been let have been done appropriately.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: So there is a range of reasons. What the honourable members are suggesting, disorderly through their interjections, is that we should just stick the money out there and see who comes and grabs it first, and say, 'It's available. Come and get it'—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order, the Hon. Mr Hanson! Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: 'Why don't you come to us? As long as you can point us to a straw house or a paper house, we will sign that one off, as long as it looks and sounds and feels like it.' We believe in doing things in terms of probity. They are strict rules within government in terms of how these contracts are made.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Hanson will come to order.

The Hon. J.E. Hanson: It's embarrassing.

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. E.S. Bourke: The only person that's happy about that is Rob.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Bourke asked a number of supplementary questions, and she is now not listening. She is having a conversation with another member across the chamber, and that is totally out of order. I'm sure the minister is about to conclude her answer and then we will move on.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Yes, Mr President. Indeed, we do need to follow the rules. The Housing Authority certainly plays by the rules, as I am sure all of the agencies do in terms of ensuring that it has probity and appropriate contracts.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Certainly, the feedback that we have had from the industry is that our stimulus money—

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Hunter will come to order.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —saved jobs, helped building companies through the most difficult times when everybody else was not making decisions—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —to engage building. When the market was flat, when individuals weren't engaging building companies, the Marshall Liberal government was there to support them.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Ridgway has the call.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Wortley knows better. The Hon. Mr Ridgway has the call.

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