23 October 2023
The State Government should investigate establishing a public builder to fast-track maintenance on public homes after the Auditor-General has revealed private firms are failing to deliver, say the Greens.
The Greens’ push comes as the Auditor-General warned of problems with three underperforming private firms that received more than $1bn for SA Housing Trust maintenance, including a high volume of delayed and overdue works to fix crumbling public homes.
“During this housing crisis, we can’t leave the responsibility of building and maintaining public housing just to the private sector. It’s completely unacceptable that public housing tenants are being ignored and waiting months for essential repairs to occur. We are also desperately waiting for new public and affordable housing to be built. A new public builder could step in and do this work as an urgent priority,’ said Greens Housing Spokesperson Robert Simms MLC.
Last month Mr Simms moved a motion in the Upper House calling for the State Government to investigate establishing a public builder.