Page 1041 - Week 04 - Thursday, 1 April 1993
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criticism for another 10 years on the basis of incorrect information or an incorrect assessment of that information, with officers of the trust constantly being hounded by the media and others when in fact the information is wrong, or are we going to set out to prove that the information is right? I would have thought that would have warranted an investigation to determine whether the trust is operating well or whether it is operating badly.
I finish where I began, Madam Speaker. I am not suggesting that there is embezzlement or fraud or gross mismanagement or anything of the kind. There seem to be some legitimate questions and, for my part, they begin with this apparent high demand for public housing that you do not find anywhere else in Australia. We live in a society that is said to be the highest paid, best educated, most affluent in Australia; yet 20 per cent of us need public housing, for which we should read "subsidised housing" in most cases. That is a matter of concern to me, and on that issue alone I think an inquiry is justified. For those reasons, Madam Speaker, I support Mr Cornwell. I would like to see the Government take the matter up and have a good look at the way the organisation functions.
MS ELLIS (11.29): I will be very brief, Madam Speaker. We do not need an inquiry such as the one suggested by Mr Cornwell. I believe that what we have here is a basic philosophical problem. Housing Trust properties are not to be regarded by anyone as welfare housing; they are public housing. That is what makes the ACT unique and that is probably what the Opposition is having a certain amount of difficulty grappling with. Mr Kaine suggests that we need to examine why we have the ACT Housing Trust in the first place. I suggest that that very question displays the difference in our positions on this issue. The people who live in these properties do not have to justify their position, and I believe that an inquiry of this kind would turn into that sort of justification process, which would be quite inappropriate and quite unfair.
The other point I would like to make is that the Estimates Committee, which is there to examine financial matters relating to government expenditure, had the opportunity, and I believe took that opportunity, at its last committee session to look at - - -
Mr Kaine: Except that they are not all financial matters.
MS ELLIS: You just referred to financial matters, Mr Kaine. The committee looked at the issue of finances throughout government. I understand from my reading of the report that there was no note in it of any problems being raised in relation to the Housing Trust. I think it is very important that we get that point on the record. Mr Kaine also talked about ridicule. I personally believe that the only ridicule would be that continuing to come from the Opposition and people who share their unfortunate views in relation to public housing in the ACT. The sort of inquiry Mr Cornwell is proposing, I believe, would end up being a witch-hunt based on philosophical grounds, and for that reason I strongly oppose any such inquiry.
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