Page 1612 - Week 05 - Thursday, 5 May 2016
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It is worth reminding members opposite and those who are listening to these questions today that at no time was there any loss to the territory of funds, and at no time was there any suggestion that the funds provided to Calvary Public Hospital for the delivery of healthcare services were not spent on the delivery of healthcare services. They clearly were. These were irregularities in the financial record keeping of the accounts of Calvary Public Hospital by the executives responsible at Calvary Health Care. Those executives are no longer responsible for these matters and are no longer employed by Calvary Health Care.
Housing ACT—asbestos
MS LAWDER: My question is to the Minister for Housing, Community Services and Social Inclusion. Minister, I have been contacted by a constituent who bought a property from Housing ACT in 2009 and then discovered that it contained asbestos. From the constituent I understand that an engineering assessment found the property to be uninhabitable. It is my understanding that the constituent tried to access records from prior to 2003 about the former Housing ACT property through an FOI request and they were told that those records could not be found. Minister, does Housing ACT keep records of the condition of all of its properties, including for all approvals of work done on its properties? If so, how far back do the records go? What is the usual process for the community to access those records?
MS BERRY: I will have to take some advice and bring that information back for the member.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Lawder.
MS LAWDER: Minister, does Housing ACT have records of which Housing ACT properties contain or contained asbestos, and does it notify potential buyers of this? And if so, what form does that notification take?
MS BERRY: Thank you for the question, Ms Lawder. If the member is referring to loose-fill asbestos, which was identified in some of the homes across the ACT through the Mr Fluffy task force, the Mr Fluffy task force has information on homes that contain loose-fill asbestos, and that might be the appropriate place for the member to ask those questions.
Housing ACT had five houses that contained Mr Fluffy asbestos. Four of those homes have been emptied, and I think one of those homes has actually been demolished as part of the work of the asbestos task force.
Specifically on other homes in the ACT that have asbestos in them, many homes that were built around the 1970s and 1980s have bonded asbestos in the homes. It is not an unusual thing for homes in the ACT to have bonded asbestos. I will get some advice, but I am not sure that there would be a detailed list of every home that had bonded asbestos, nor do I think there is a detailed list of homes that have bonded asbestos that are not Housing ACT properties.
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