Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (25 June) . . Page.. 2137 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

have too many fears there, in terms of moves Australia-wide. We are monitoring that, and we are not likely to jump into anything that is going to be detrimental to the ACT. I simply point you to statements I made in relation to that after the last Commonwealth-State Housing Ministers meeting in early June this year.

You talked about a lower priority for maintenance. Earlier today I went through, as I did at the Estimates Committee, the maintenance budgets for the last four years. This is the biggest one in four years. We have increased it significantly, to $27.2m all-up - $7.9m in capital works, with some big items of maintenance in houses such as wet areas, kitchens, et cetera, and $19.33m, up about $5.5m from last year, in terms of recurrent maintenance. That is over $7m more than in the last Labor budget. Ms Tucker, $27.2m is not a small amount of money by any stretch of the imagination.

Both you and Ms Reilly talked about the black hole and the fact that we, like every other State and Territory, had to make our contribution to the Beazley black hole. I commend the Chief Minister for clawing back $5.4m this year. Yes, $5.4m did come out of public housing, and $10.8m came out of it last year. Where would you take it from? Ms Reilly started to say "health", but then thought, "No. Maybe that is not such a good idea". Where would you take it from?

Mr Kaine: Have a look at their policy statement.

MR STEFANIAK: I do not think it is on the Internet yet, Mr Kaine. Mr Whitecross said that we will have to wait.

However, we have sold stock. Last financial year, the one we are just about to get out of, we sold more stock than we normally would have sold in the couple of years before that. This coming financial year, we aim to sell less stock. But we do have old stock. In many cases, it is inappropriate. Over 50 per cent of our stock is over 30 years old. A considerable proportion of it is 40 or 50 years old. Thirty per cent of our tenants are over 55 years of age. We are constantly trying to move them into more appropriate accommodation.

We inherited from the Commonwealth old stock, in many cases not very well maintained at all. That has cost ACT Housing more than it has cost its State counterparts and its counterpart in the Northern Territory. We are not comparable to the rest of Australia. That is a constant burden to us. That is one of the main reasons why the maintenance budget this year is at an all-time high over the four-year period which I mentioned and, I suspect, although I do not have the figures, considerably higher than for five or six years before that, too. That is not something to be sneezed at. I think that is a very commendable highlight of the budget, which shows not only our dedication to our public housing and our tenants but also our very real desire to do something about improving general maintenance.

Mr Speaker, Ms Reilly talked about complaints in relation to maintenance. She said that she gets them. Of course, we all do. I suppose, if anything, I am pleased to say that I have noticed a slight decrease in terms of complaints on maintenance coming into my office, which is pleasing, because I probably get the bulk of complaints.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .