Thursday, April 2, 2015

Congratulations new Ministers, MPs

The Tenants' Union congratulates the NSW Coalition parties on their re-election to State Government.

Congratulations to Brad Hazzard, who has been appointed Minister for Family and Community Services and Minister for Social Housing.


Having a Minister for Social Housing is a new development: in the Coalition Government's previous term, social housing was rolled into the Family and Community Services portfolio without distinction. Before that, social housing was the responsibility of a Minister for Housing, an office which went back to the 1940s, but which had for a long time been focused on social housing, rather than the wider housing system.

We're optimistic that the elevation of social housing to its own ministry will mean that the social housing sector will be elevated in the priorities of the State Government... but we'd still prefer to see Minister Hazzard (or another of his colleagues) as Minister for Housing, with a broad brief to develop policies for greater affordability, security and decency of housing across the tenures.

We should also note that Minister Hazzard, as Attorney-General in the previous term of the Government, deserves credit for his role in convincing the Federal Government to restore funding to community legal centres and Legal Aid which had previously been cut. We look forward to working with him on social housing.

Congratulations too to Victor Dominello, who has been appointed Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation, and whose responsibilities include tenancy law.


The 'Innovation and Better Regulation' ministry is a new development too, replacing the ministry of 'Fair Trading', which itself replaced 'Consumer Affairs' some time ago. We're a little concerned that the change in ministerial title may reflect an intention to shift away from consumer protection as the primary responsibility of the portfolio.

On the other hand, we know Minister Dominello from his early work on boarding house sector reform, so we look forward to working with him on tenancy reform.

And congratulations to all new and re-elected Members of Parliament, especially those who declared their support for More Bang for Your Bond:
Tim Crakanthorp (Labor, Newcastle)
Trish Doyle (Labor, Blue Mountains) 
Alex Greenwich (Independent, Sydney)
David Harris (Labor, Wyong)
Jo Haylen (Labor, Summer Hill)
Sonia Hornery MP (Labor, Wallsend)
Geoff Lee (Liberal, Parramatta)
Jenny Leong (Greens, Newtown)
Adam Marshall (Nationals, Northern Tablelands)
Bruce Notley-Smith (Liberal, Coogee)
Jamie Parker (Greens, Balmain)
John Robertson (Labor, Blacktown)
 and possibly more to come as counting continues! 

11 comments:

  1. And huge CONGRATS to our new AG AND Treasurer ... You go girl!

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  2. Bruce,
    could you please add to the frequency of the 353. It is the only bus that can make it up Arden st. congrats on the reappt ... yeah!

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  3. Tenants Union. you must be seen to be impartial not working WITH but advising or advocating for..
    but unrelated how pretty is MP Dominello AND a lawyer.

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  4. Mr Hazzard,
    We're waiting with baited breath ... lets put that housing policy review into action. yee ha! id like to earn more than $47k without eviction and TRANSITION into the next level of Housing feel free to cancel no grounds evictions from all social housing forms and start mutual obligation programs for tenants. Good luck in your new. role you change agent you :)

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  5. Anon (at 6.13)

    We're a co-operative bunch, and strictly non-partisan. We work with Govt, Opposition and other MPs to improve laws, policies and practices that affect tenants.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You were laying it on a bit thick for Mr.Hazzard....bit more for the tenants and a little less for the cats.

      where's Gabrielle uptons congrats in the list? ....

      Delete
    2. Congratulations to other Ministers go without saying. We're a housing and tenancy blog, you see.

      Delete
    3. She was the previous housing minister. Congrats ... now the first female AG.

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    4. Community Legal Ctres, Legal aid refunded.
      That was the crux... really guys.
      ok as long as we all know what's going on. ....Next.... ;)

      Delete
  6. Anon (at 6.20)

    Your proposal for transitory social housing might not be quite so bad if the Federal Govt's fiscal policy was directed to full employment - but it is set quite the other way. Please have a read of our posts on unemployment/underemployment and work disincentives and rethink your counter-productive proposal.

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  7. Not TRANSITORY ... TRANSITION.
    Step up through different housing models as your employment opportunities improve and advance.
    disincentives I'm already experiencing that in the current model.

    ReplyDelete

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