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If people can be spoken to when they are $150 or $200 in arrears, something can be done; they can be assisted in overcoming their difficulties. That is something that the Housing Trust officials are now keen to do and which I think will be of great benefit for some people who tend to get themselves into arrears but who have the goodwill and desire to do their bit and make amends for that. Of course, if some people simply refuse to pay their rent, action will be taken, and I do not think anyone really can quibble with that. Things have to be taken on a case-by-case basis.

I think Ms McRae is drawing a bit of a longbow when she suggests that my comment about the Government being a fair but firm landlord casts a pall over all tenants. That really is rubbish. I think Mr Moore gave a fairly good figure. You must remember that 12 per cent of all ACT housing stock is public housing. The vast majority of tenants, 98 per cent - I would not quibble with Mr Moore; I think he is pretty accurate - live up to their obligations, just as the vast majority of tenants in private housing live up to their expectations. Mr Moore has indicated that he is a private landlord.

Mr Moore: I have been.

MR STEFANIAK: He has been. I have been too. Whilst I have not had my place trashed, I have certainly had the experience of a tenant not paying rent - in fact, a tenant I knew fairly well. Those things happen. They happen in the private market and they happen in the public market. I think that when one looks at percentages they are very similar. You would certainly have just as many bad tenants in private housing as you would in public housing. However, the Government is a landlord and the Government has to have its standards, and this Government will have them. When someone does something wrong they should pay for it, and the community should ensure that that occurs.

I am not going to announce a new initiative today, but I will have some good news in relation to all those very good tenants. This Government will implement very shortly, I think as early as next week, a new scheme for those tenants at the best end of the scale and give them due recognition for the excellent efforts they make and the pride they have in their houses.

Mr Moore: Hear, hear! What are you going to do?

MR STEFANIAK: I will let you know next week, Michael.

Mr Moore: Come on; tell us.

MR STEFANIAK: No; it is a good media opportunity. I am not going to spoil that. It is a nice little scheme to give due recognition to those excellent tenants who take care of their houses over and above what would normally be expected of people generally.

Mr Moore, and I think Ms McRae also, spoke about tenants who were a nuisance to neighbours and asked whether the normal laws should apply. Of course they should. I have advised my housing officers that the normal rule of law applies.

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