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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 14 Hansard (12 December) . . Page.. 4447 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

Indeed, you gave a considerable amount of Housing money to Mr Howard for his budget; that is what you did. You took it out of Housing. We were very proud to be able to point to the-

Mrs Dunne: "It wasn't me, guv'nor; it was three other people and John Howard made me do it."

MR WOOD: They made you do it! Well, you certainly did it; there is no doubt about that. I was very careful at all times to shout out about this. I wanted it well known. I also wanted it well known, as I did do, that $10 million of this money was not part of the 2002-03 budget; it was part of that earlier budget.

I think I have responded to Ms Dundas. Yes, we did raise MUPP in our election policy and we have been taking it through. It was taken on further when we got that legal report. I think it was an entirely reasonable action. I think it was an important and sensible precaution-indeed, an obligation-to bring ACT Housing's large flat complexes, in some cases built more than 40 years ago, closer to modern fire standards. Your answer to that problem would be to knock them down. There are some issues I have to solve yet about some of those complexes, including Currong, but I am not automatically deciding that they are going to be knocked down.

Mr Smyth: We didn't, either. That is why we did the audits.

MR WOOD: You seemed very happy to do that.

Members interjecting-

MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Mr Wood has the floor. Mr Smyth and Mr Stanhope, you can go outside and talk. Mr Wood has the floor here.

MR WOOD: I do emphasise that the flats meet the standards that applied when they were built. They are safe, but we are making them safer. We took the view that ACT Housing should exceed its statutory obligations and progressively upgrade fire safety at those complexes. The legal decision in late May emphasised that point. That was when we knew that we had to give a clear signal that these issues had been recognised and that we were addressing them.

In response to that problem, the government provided that injection of $10 million to allow ACT Housing immediately to progress its fire safety program over this and the next financial year. We believed also, as I said at question time, that we had a moral responsibility in this regard. In addition to that $10 million, ACT Housing contributed $6 million from within its own resources to that program. To repeat the point, it was all very open, very public. Indeed, it was very loud-I don't have a soft voice-and it was proudly loud, so it was a known fact.

Based on the confidence that the funding provided, and this remains a key issue, work commenced immediately on upgrading fire safety. That was an important point for the officers involved who recognised the messages in that legal advice. Work commenced and continues, the audit continues. There has already been a great deal work over the period. A total of $500,000 of the amount allocated has been expended so far on fire

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