7 May, 2026
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (15:04): I am delighted to hear the minister had such a great trip. It sounds engrossing. I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development on the topic of rental affordability in the regions.
Leave granted.
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: On 23 April 2026, the REA Group released their latest rental prices data. It showed that over the past year rental costs across the country have skyrocketed. In Adelaide, median rental prices rose by 4.2 per cent, equivalent to an increase of $26 per week or $1,352 a year.
Meanwhile, the median rental price in regional South Australia rose by 12.5 per cent. That is equivalent to an increase of $56 a week or $2,912 a year for regional renters. Regional South Australians recorded the second highest percentage increase in rents nationwide, second only to the Northern Territory. Too many households are just one rent increase away from eviction or homelessness, particularly in regional areas.
My question to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development is: will the minister back an immediate rent freeze, recognising that regional South Australians are being slugged with one of the sharpest rises in rents across the country and, if not, why not?
The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:05): I thank the honourable member for his question. Whilst obviously housing falls under the responsibility of the Minister for Housing in the other place, I can certainly make some general remarks. First of all, we know that we have a significant rental crisis here in South Australia, as indeed is being experienced across the majority of the nation.
The issue is around supply and that is why the Malinauskas government has been so focused on attempting to assist with increasing supply as opposed to the policies of some other parties, particularly those opposite, who have been focused on strategies that actually increase demand and therefore make the crisis worse.
We have been very pleased to have growth in population in regions and that's something that has been a long-term goal for the majority of regions over many decades. However, to have increased growth means we also need to be able to increase the housing supply. The establishment of the Office for Regional Housing was just one example of the work that was done under the Malinauskas government in the previous term in this regard.
Of course, another aspect of increasing supply is increasing the trade skills and availability of tradespeople and things such as the introduction of technical colleges is one step towards that. There is obviously a lot of work still to be done and this government will continue to do it.