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

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (15:01): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Human Services regarding walk-up flats.

Leave granted.

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS: The South Australian Housing Authority Facebook page includes a recent post about Rosslyn Court upgrades in Parkside that were initiated by the former Labor government. The opposition's understanding is that block 1 was completed, which included roof replacement, internalisation of laundries, removal of some asbestos, key padlocks on common area doors and other works. Block 2 was supposed to be completed during 2019-20 with similar work to block 1. My questions to the minister are:

1. Is it true that tenants of block 2 have been told to prepare to move out but a decision was then made to stop work?

2. How long has the project been sitting idle since announcements were made to upgrade the flats?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (15:02): I thank the honourable member for her question. If I can say at the outset, in terms of the walk-up flat programs, they are actually really more significant than you might otherwise think, particularly when you go to the sites and realise how tired they are and how some of the built form, which is many decades old now, contributes to safety issues. Obviously, upgrades and maintenance work being accelerated assists with the amenity and lets our tenants know that they are valued in terms of that we are prepared to provide them with a good, safe place to live.

Some of the works that have taken place at walk-up flat sites have been to remove things like external laundries and carports. Some of those laundries and carports reduce safety for people because clearly someone may be there who may not be visible to the person. So there is a range of things that are being done for tenants where those external laundries have been removed and most of the washing machines that have been placed in there, as much as they might have been industrial standard when they were installed, are not particularly useful to anyone and might get vandalised and the like, so they haven't been providing much value.

In response to that, our flats have had laundry works internalised and tenants have been supplied with a washing machine which is of great benefit to them. There are the usual other things such as painting at the Rosslyn Court ones. There has also been removal of asbestos. Replacing the roof has meant that we have been able to install solar, which is clearly of great benefit to those tenants. It is a really valuable program which enables us to provide a better mix of tenants, which is also important in those high-density sites.

I think what the honourable member is referring to, and I do notice when I bother to check my Twitter feed from time to time that whenever there is some announcement—this happened in relation to some of the new builds that we opened for older people in the Prospect-Blair Athol area and some of the Labor members were particularly hurt that they didn't get to cut the ribbon or visit the site, because there had been money that had been allocated under their government and the build had been completed under this one.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: I say, 'Well, I'm very sorry that they feel that way,' but we are continuing with a range of programs to provide better services for South Australian Housing Trust tenants. I would have to say that a lot of the feedback that I get is that we are doing a much better job than the Labor Party ever did.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: It's the government, really. It's the government.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Members on my left, order! I am sure the minister is about to wrap up her answer, and she will be heard in silence.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The minister.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Given that I am not the person who's got a welder in my hand or a paintbrush, I completely defer to the team—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —who work for the Housing Authority, but the members—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Members opposite ought to be careful, because I get this feedback from some of their members, who I will not name. I will not name the Labor members who have actually said that they are pleasantly surprised at the response that they get from the South Australian Housing Authority. So that is the highest praise we could ever expect from a bunch of—sorry, he wants me to wrap up.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: In relation to Rosslyn Court—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Members on my left will be silent while the minister concludes her answer, which I am sure she is about to do.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: I did note that some of the Labor members were particularly bruised about the Rosslyn Court issue. I put that to the Housing Authority team, and they said that there had been a tender which had gone out, I think not long before the previous government lost office, to do some works at the Rosslyn Court site, and it fell through.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: No, no. I will get those exact dates, Mr President. I think that would be important. It would be a very important detail for the Labor members to know about who spent what and when at Rosslyn Court. The most important thing, of course, is that we have a much better service for our tenants at that site, and that is something that should be celebrated.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Ms Pnevmatikos has a supplementary question, and I am sure her colleagues will listen to her and let her ask that in silence.

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