Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to present a petition on behalf of one of my constituents, Maureen Ralston. The petition has been considered by the Standing Committee on Petitions and is certified as being in accordance with standing orders. Mrs Ralston currently lives in East Bunbury in the south-west of Western Australia. She and many others like her are struggling to make ends meet with the constant rises in their daily costs of living—in fuel, food and rent. She is very concerned that in Bunbury the inflation of rental accommodation is making it increasingly difficult for those in the unfortunate position of having to rely on support payments from Centrelink to be able to pay their rent. The petition calls on the government to revise the legislation governing rent assistance to allow a greater amount to be paid to assist in paying for the accommodation of those in this position and, as a consequence, help reduce homelessness in Australia.

Rent is rising above the CPI. The CPI is currently 4.1 per cent and rent is 7.1 per cent and rent in my area can now be at least 50 per cent of people’s social security or Newstart payments. I know of people in my electorate who are paying 65 per cent of their Newstart payments in rent. Paying 30 per cent of income in rent is considered ‘rental stress’. A WA Business News survey from August 2008 found that demand for WA rental properties was amongst the highest nationally with 36 per cent of property managers stating there was a shortfall of more than 10 per cent in total stock. WA also had the highest proportion of managers reporting rent increases during the past six months with one-fifth of those surveyed raising rents by more than 21 per cent. Most respondents said that rents were likely to increase by up to 10 per cent over the next six months, which makes Mrs Ralston’s petition even more relevant to those on fixed incomes.

Local Bunbury real estate agent LJ Hooker advised that rental demand is currently a lot higher than five years ago, that rental prices for $200,000 properties have increased to $300 a week and that rentals of $250 to $300 per week are extremely hard to find. Potential renters call in every day looking for rental properties, but these are snapped up, usually on a weekly basis. We have seen a large influx of workers to the area attracted by the large expansion projects particularly in the mining sector. These workers are paying premium rental prices, much higher than the locals can afford and certainly much higher than those on Newstart can afford.

I thank Mrs Ralston for recognising this problem within the community, for being prepared to try to do something about it and for making time to put this petition together, spending many hours securing the signatures that go with it. It is always very easy to know that there is a problem but far more difficult to be prepared to be part of the answer. Mrs Ralston is trying to be part of this answer. I present the petition.

The petition read as follows—

To the Honourable Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives

This is the petition of certain citizens of Australia

Draws to the attention of the House: The inflation of rental accommodation is making it increasingly difficult for those in the unfortunate position of having to rely on an income support payment from Centrelink to be able to afford to pay their rent.

We therefore ask the House to: Revise the legislation governing Rent Assistance to allow a greater amount to be paid to assist in paying for the accommodation of those in this position and as a consequence help reduce homelessness in Australia

from 483 citizens

Petition received.