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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 7 Hansard (6 June) . . Page.. 2025 ..


MR STANHOPE (continuing):

I am not sure there is much more I can tell you than that. I am happy to give you a full and detailed briefing. I am happy to bring one back to the Assembly and I will seek to table it this afternoon, Ms Tucker.

MS TUCKER: Mr Speaker, I have a supplementary question. As the university union has been found not to be a separate organisation but part of the university, can you ensure that the university consolidates its accounts, incorporating the university union as it is required to do by statute?

MR STANHOPE: I am happy to take that on notice. I will give a full response to these questions this afternoon, Ms Tucker.

Housing-repairs and maintenance

MR STEFANIAK: Mr Speaker, my question is to the minister for housing, Mr Wood. Minister, recently I visited the Reid Court flats in Elimatta Street, Reid. I was very concerned to hear from tenants about a number of things, but specifically a waiting time of between four and six weeks after notification of a requirement for basic maintenance to be carried out on communal washing machines. The residents in those complexes depend on the communal washing machines.

I also received a call from a tenant at the Currong Flats, advising of a similar situation. This was again that the communal washing machines have been out of order for some time, that this fact has been notified and nothing has occurred. Also, in relation to the Currong Flats, the TV aerial there, which residents depend on for their TV reception, had been out of order, at that stage, for a week, thus depriving the residents of their only form of entertainment, in many cases.

Minister, how can you justify these delays in basic essential maintenance, when the March 2002 financial position report states that there was "an underspend in ACT housing repairs and maintenance of $3.4 million"?

MR WOOD: Mr Speaker, we are working under the contracts your government signed with various agencies. They are your contracts and they are your people. They are now ours.

They have certain requirements as specified by the contract, as detailed by Mr Moore. I think those contracts were signed by him in the last period. They specify what is urgent work and what is less urgent. It would appear to me that washing machines are probably something that should have been done within two or three days, although I do not have a clear memory of exactly what is listed as being urgent on the list I have seen. I will make some inquiries about it.

I point out that, in the last Assembly, when I was shadow minister, I, not infrequently, referred similar requests to the minister of the day.

MR STEFANIAK

: Mr Speaker, I have a supplementary question. Minister, will you undertake to ensure that those items are repaired, as soon as possible, for the tenants in those flats? I would suggest also, minister, that you might like to check your March 2002


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