Page 1854 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 1 May 1991
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The Alliance Government has totally failed to introduce a Rental Bond Board, although it was a platform pledge of the Residents Rally at the last election. So, at the moment those tenants are not able to seek protection from unethical landlords in Canberra. Even though Mr Collaery got a C for consumer affairs, Mr Speaker, I am quite sure that he has read the annual report of the Consumer Affairs Bureau and he would be aware that complaints by tenants and complaints on housing matters comprise a very large amount of the work of the Consumer Affairs Bureau. According to the current annual report, there have been over 2,000 telephone complaints about tenancy matters. There have been 105 formal complaints about real estate and accommodation. That comprises a very large part of the work of the Consumer Affairs Bureau, and I would think that Mr Collaery would understand how a Rental Bond Board might help alleviate the difficulties that some of those people are experiencing and might actually act to protect the most vulnerable people in this whole equation, namely, the tenants.
I believe that, even if the Liberal Alliance does go ahead with the Rental Bond Board, it will be nothing more than a tool of the Real Estate Institute, and it will compromise any remaining principles that the Government may lay claim to, to the extent that it will be quite prepared to allow the Real Estate Institute to dictate its policy to the Government on that matter.
I will turn very briefly, Mr Speaker, to the question of homelessness in the ACT. I know that the data of homelessness here is scant. There are not enough figures available for us to really make an evaluation of how many people here are sleeping in the streets, sleeping in parks, how many people will have to spend the Canberra winter out of doors. Nevertheless, everybody knows that there are people in those circumstances. Everybody has their own story to tell. Indeed, I have had people sleeping in my garage from time to time. And, Mr Speaker, if anybody travels through the city late at night, year round, you will know that there are people there who are intending to spend the night there.
Mr Collaery's response to that, in terms of the accommodation provided at the Ainslie Village, is, of course, to cut back the bed capacity. This incredibly heartless and callous Minister is planning to further disadvantage the most disadvantaged people in our community. There have been 260 people sleeping at the Ainslie Village, and it has a capacity for about 300. And what does Mr Collaery do in response to that? He cuts it back. He now says that there are far too many of them taking advantage of that kind of accommodation, they do not need that many beds and they should be reduced to 209.
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