Page 1044 - Week 04 - Thursday, 1 April 1993
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management, which works very simply on the basis that if you complain they will do something about it. That worries me. I wonder how many people are living in trust properties with bad tenants around them and are frightened to complain for fear that some action may be taken against them by those tenants. It is a matter that needs to be looked at, Mr Connolly, and I hope that the trust is addressing this question.
Mr Kaine: It is a question of social justice.
MR CORNWELL: It is a question of social justice, and the fact remains that many people are less than happy with that arrangement. You must have some more routine inspections.
Mr Connolly: Many people are unhappy with their neighbours.
MR CORNWELL: Not quite to the degree of the complaints that I receive. Single mums are in considerable fear about wild parties and drug taking and used syringes and things lying around public areas. I believe that the matter should be addressed. You cannot just push them away. You cannot just have a different standard for those people.
Mr Moore: So what do you do with them?
MR CORNWELL: You put them somewhere else altogether, Mr Moore.
Mr Moore: Like Melba Flats. We tried that.
MR CORNWELL: No. What we might do is to put them in Reid, next door to you. (Extension of time granted)
Finally, there is another area that concerns me, apart from the failure to collect the rents. Every time I raise questions in this Assembly in relation to what is supposed to be done - and I grant you that the Housing Trust has all sorts of guidelines, all sorts of policies - the fact is that there does not seem to be any follow-through. The most recent, Mr Connolly, was your answer in relation to this wilful damage of trust properties. There are two types of damage. One is fair wear and tear and the other is wilful damage. My questions elicited the information: "Yes, the trust views very severely the problem of wilful damage, and we will take action against the tenants. We send them accounts, et cetera". When I asked how much money had been received, I was advised that there was something like $50,000 in arrears for wilful damage. In other words, accounts had been sent out for that amount and only $556 had been received back.
Mr Kaine: Would that cover the postage?
MR CORNWELL: I doubt it, Mr Kaine. What it comes down to is that the trust is saying one thing and not doing another. This is taxpayers' money. It deserves to be properly accounted for, and I believe that that is not happening. These are justifiable reasons, in my opinion, for an inquiry into the trust, and I urge members to support such an inquiry.
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