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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-03-06 Daily Xml
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Matters of Interest

Human Services Portfolio

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (15:21): I rise to place some corrections on the record in relation to the human services portfolio. Firstly, I am concerned that the minister is trying to avoid public and media scrutiny regarding abandoned SA Housing properties by claiming that they are part of a domestic and family violence program. Members of the community raise these issues with us out of frustration, usually after large piles of unsanitary and unsightly messes have been left for weeks or months.

The government does have a dedicated commitment to a set of ring-fenced properties for domestic and family violence households. An FOI document providing an update of the program shows that there are just 45 properties out of a total of 45,000 social housing properties statewide. What are the chances that the houses brought to our attention are in that program—.001 per cent.

I am also concerned that the minister may have breached guidelines by publicly identifying to media outlets that particular homes belong to that program. By way of example, The Advertiser on 16 January 2024 stated that, 'The home is tenanted by a person who is a victim of domestic violence.' Secondly, in relation to maintenance contracts, two years into the job, 18 months after the minister signed the contract, and 14 months into the operation of the contract, the minister might like to take responsibility for them. After all, her own media release of 19 September 2022 crowed:

The new contractors have been selected after an extensive and transparent tender process and will begin delivering services from the end of 2022.

Time after time in radio, when asked why maintenance jobs are blowing out, I get blamed, which does not wash with interviewers or listeners.

Thirdly, I have also heard the minister claim that I slashed the number of staff from Housing SA. I assume she is referring to an efficiency dividend. These belt-tightening methods have been used by Labor many times. In my time, the Housing Authority found efficiencies from other means. In the interests of independent verification, the parliamentary library has done some work at my request, taking data from the OCPSE on FTEs, employee numbers, employee benefits and expenses. I seek leave to table this document.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Interestingly, the lowest numbers are from 2017-18, and the table speaks for itself. Fourthly, the minister wants to claim credit for South Australia's larger percentage of social housing. I was surprised to see that in January a number of ministers issued press releases when the annual Report on Government Services (known as the RoGS) was released, as numbers do not change much year on year. The Minister for Human Services, in a media release titled 'New data shows strong foundation for Labor investment in housing', issued a glowing report card with the following opening paragraph:

The first full year of the Malinauskas Labor Government and push to increase public housing stock has led to improved housing and homelessness services, according to new national data released.

The release goes on to say that there are more than 45,000 social housing properties, which are properties owned and/or managed by Housing SA or community organisations, and it further makes a favourable comparison between South Australia and national data on housing. The reader is led to believe that Labor has magicked 45,000 social housing properties, yet the 2022 RoGS data showed South Australia had 45,690 social housing properties, 5.7 per cent of our state's dwelling stock, placing us ahead of Victoria, Queensland, WA and New South Wales, and equal with Tasmania.

It was the Marshall Liberal government that arrested the sales, as reported in 2020, after Labor had sold 7,500 properties in their 16 years previously and we were able to achieve net zero sales by 2022. There was an article printed at the time from 22 October 2020, entitled 'Housing sell-off capped'. I seek leave to have that document tabled.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: In 2007, it was the Labor Party that baked forward sales into Housing Trust properties that led to that loss of 7,500 properties in Labor's last period in government. In fact, the Premier himself, in an ill-informed Dixer in 2022, misled the house when he blamed me for the forward sales, but being that he leads a government with ambiguous standards that one went through to the keeper. My suggestion is that Labor's RoGS release should have instead read: we are very sorry for all the properties we sold. Old data shows Labor's previous de-investment in housing.

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