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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 13 Hansard (5 December) . . Page.. 4467 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

Ms Reilly, it is never easy, but a significant amount of money is being spent on maintenance. We are trying to get more cyclical maintenance done, more planned maintenance rather than reactive maintenance. It is always an ongoing problem. I do not know where you got the figure of $65m to do everything up. Anyone on this side would love an extra $65m in their budget. We could do a hell of a lot with it. I do not know the basis for that. I will certainly have Housing check that out. I am interested in it. Maybe you can tell me where you got that from.

We are keen to improve our maintenance. There are some fairly healthy signs that that is occurring. I am pleased to see the pilot in Belconnen showing some more efficient ways of doing things and attending to tenants' needs more quickly. I am also very keen to progress further the planned maintenance, which obviously really starts to pay dividends down the track when there is less reactive maintenance. That is indeed a good thing. Ms Reilly, as I think I said during the budget debate, unfortunately satisfying everyone is impossible.

MS REILLY: I ask a supplementary question. Minister, are you supplementing ACT Housing's maintenance budget by a bit of creative accounting, by adding additional charges to maintenance bills sent to tenants, and are you taking them off again when the tenants object, as I brought to your attention last week?

MR STEFANIAK: I would be very surprised if that is coming into the equation at all. As for creative accounting, Ms Reilly, certainly there is such a thing as tenant maintenance. That is made well known to tenants when they sign an agreement. It is made known on occasions through the tenants' newsletter. Any money we get from tenants' maintenance I do not think is a huge amount. The tenants are made well aware of what their responsibilities are and also what Housing's responsibilities are in providing maintenance. That is reinforced on a regular basis so that people are aware of their rights and responsibilities.

MR MOORE: Mr Speaker, my question is directed to Mr Humphries in his capacity as Minister for Heritage. Minister, can you confirm that the property known as Sir Harold and Lady White's Garden in Red Hill has been removed from the ACT Heritage Places Register? Can you indicate what the grounds for the decision were and whether this previously heritage-registered property will now be liable for redevelopment into high-density dwellings? Finally, Minister, what action are you taking to ensure that other heritage items in the ACT will receive better protection than Sir Harold and Lady White's Garden has under your administration?

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I thank Mr Moore for this question. It is a quite timely question. I have visited Sir Harold and Lady White's Garden on open days in the past. When I saw it, it was a magnificent specimen of garden design and landscaping, certainly a quite spectacular place and richly deserving of its gazettal as an item on the interim Heritage Places Register back in 1993. The Heritage Council removed the place from the interim register on 2 November 1996. Note that it was the Heritage Council which made that decision.

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