Ms MOSS - 2015-04-28
Under your watch the public housing stock has fallen by 76 dwellings in the last year, including 53 fewer dwellings in the bush. This year’s budget papers show that only 90 of a promised 418 remote dwellings will be upgraded in 2015-16. How can Territorians have any confidence in your ability to deliver better housing? How can you possibly justify these failures to the thousands of Territorians on the public housing waiting list given you think spending $50 000 to travel to New York, including $3000 for a driver for two days, is an appropriate use of taxpayers’ money?
Mr Giles: Mr Deputy Speaker, given that relates to Indigenous Affairs, which falls under my portfolio responsibilities, I would be very happy to answer that.
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker!
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am happy for the Chief Minister to answer that.
ANSWER
Thank you very much for the question, member for Casuarina. If you want to talk about Indigenous housing, look at your performance under the Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Program. That program, costing $1.8bn, produced fewer houses than when you started. You knocked down more houses than you built, and you want to lambast the Housing minister for your past failures.
Members interjecting.
Mr GILES: Oh the hysterics of failure on the other side, particularly the member for Wanguri, who was the adviser to the former Housing minister.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It is unprecedented to see a Chief Minister jump in front of a bullet like that for the Housing minister. The question was that this year’s budget papers show that only 90 of the promised 418 remote dwellings will be upgraded in 2014-15, so how can Territorians have any confidence in your ability to deliver better housing?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. It is not a point of order.
Mr GILES: This is not a bullet, this is an opportunity. This government is setting up the affordable housing sector in the Northern Territory – private housing, public housing – and we are now setting up community housing and affordable housing. You talk about a negative number of 53 houses, Real Housing for Growth is a commitment of 2000 additional houses over four years, of which 488 are now occupied, including eight in Tennant Creek, in the member for Barkly’s electorate. An additional 500 are under construction, and today or tomorrow a tender will go out for the remainder of those 2000 houses. If you want to talk about a lack of housing development look at your performance under the SIHIP program, when the member for Wanguri was the adviser who saw more houses demolished than were built in the bush.
If you want to talk about Nhulunbuy, in eleven-and-a-half years how many houses did you build? Zero. How many houses were built in the Barkly electorate in the time of the Labor government? Zero. We have built more houses in Barkly in two-and-a-half years than Labor did in eleven-and-a-half years.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. Chief Minister, if you cannot trust your Housing minister to answer questions how can you trust her to be a Housing minister?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, that is not a point of order. I think you know it. The Chief Minister has the call.
Mr GILES: When it comes to a matter of trust, the matter of trust is with the member for Wanguri who was adviser to the Housing minister who ran failure after failure in Indigenous housing for years and years. If you want to talk about wasting money, walk around the corner and check your dirty dodgy Stella Maris site deal. You want to hand away a $3m asset, and you handed away millions of dollars by demolishing houses across the Northern Territory.
Only one party in this Chamber has built houses and increased the housing stock in the last 15 years, and we did it in two-and-a-half years.
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The question was directed to the Minister for Housing. I note she was calling out across the Chamber so perhaps she is ready to answer the question.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Nhulunbuy, please. This 113 stuff has to slow down. It has been completely abused in this Chamber. The Chief Minister has opted to answer the question on behalf of the Housing minister. If you do not like it you can attack it through a media release but not in this Chamber.
Mr GILES: Much of my time has been eroded by these insidious points of order. The opposition might like to reflect on the increase in money we have put towards repairs, maintenance and housing in this fantastic budget, how many more houses we are building under Real Housing for Growth, and what we are doing to meet the needs of Territorians.
Mr Giles: Mr Deputy Speaker, given that relates to Indigenous Affairs, which falls under my portfolio responsibilities, I would be very happy to answer that.
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker!
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am happy for the Chief Minister to answer that.
ANSWER
Thank you very much for the question, member for Casuarina. If you want to talk about Indigenous housing, look at your performance under the Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Program. That program, costing $1.8bn, produced fewer houses than when you started. You knocked down more houses than you built, and you want to lambast the Housing minister for your past failures.
Members interjecting.
Mr GILES: Oh the hysterics of failure on the other side, particularly the member for Wanguri, who was the adviser to the former Housing minister.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It is unprecedented to see a Chief Minister jump in front of a bullet like that for the Housing minister. The question was that this year’s budget papers show that only 90 of the promised 418 remote dwellings will be upgraded in 2014-15, so how can Territorians have any confidence in your ability to deliver better housing?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. It is not a point of order.
Mr GILES: This is not a bullet, this is an opportunity. This government is setting up the affordable housing sector in the Northern Territory – private housing, public housing – and we are now setting up community housing and affordable housing. You talk about a negative number of 53 houses, Real Housing for Growth is a commitment of 2000 additional houses over four years, of which 488 are now occupied, including eight in Tennant Creek, in the member for Barkly’s electorate. An additional 500 are under construction, and today or tomorrow a tender will go out for the remainder of those 2000 houses. If you want to talk about a lack of housing development look at your performance under the SIHIP program, when the member for Wanguri was the adviser who saw more houses demolished than were built in the bush.
If you want to talk about Nhulunbuy, in eleven-and-a-half years how many houses did you build? Zero. How many houses were built in the Barkly electorate in the time of the Labor government? Zero. We have built more houses in Barkly in two-and-a-half years than Labor did in eleven-and-a-half years.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. Chief Minister, if you cannot trust your Housing minister to answer questions how can you trust her to be a Housing minister?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, that is not a point of order. I think you know it. The Chief Minister has the call.
Mr GILES: When it comes to a matter of trust, the matter of trust is with the member for Wanguri who was adviser to the Housing minister who ran failure after failure in Indigenous housing for years and years. If you want to talk about wasting money, walk around the corner and check your dirty dodgy Stella Maris site deal. You want to hand away a $3m asset, and you handed away millions of dollars by demolishing houses across the Northern Territory.
Only one party in this Chamber has built houses and increased the housing stock in the last 15 years, and we did it in two-and-a-half years.
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The question was directed to the Minister for Housing. I note she was calling out across the Chamber so perhaps she is ready to answer the question.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Nhulunbuy, please. This 113 stuff has to slow down. It has been completely abused in this Chamber. The Chief Minister has opted to answer the question on behalf of the Housing minister. If you do not like it you can attack it through a media release but not in this Chamber.
Mr GILES: Much of my time has been eroded by these insidious points of order. The opposition might like to reflect on the increase in money we have put towards repairs, maintenance and housing in this fantastic budget, how many more houses we are building under Real Housing for Growth, and what we are doing to meet the needs of Territorians.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016