Fyles Government must explain $70m unpaid remote rent write-off: CLP | NT Independent

Fyles Government must explain $70m unpaid remote rent write-off: CLP

by | Aug 10, 2022 | News | 0 comments

The Fyles Government secretly wrote-off $70 million in back rent it was owed from public housing rentals in remote communities, in a decision the Opposition says needs to be explained and the consequences understood for other public housing tenants across the NT.

It was revealed yesterday that Treasurer Eva Lawler had written off the debt as part of court action taken by residents of Santa Teresa and Laramba over their poor public housing conditions. It was only revealed as part of a recent NT Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearing and has not been commented on by any minister.

It’s been reported that the government told the residents they would not have to pay their back rent to December 11, 2021 and would now be put on a new rental plan. It was a tacit admission that the previous remote rental scheme was flawed and that the government could not explain to NTCAT how the alleged rental debts were calculated.

“I think this was ultimately inevitable, I think the system was in disarray and the amounts were just not recoverable in a practical sense from people who don’t have money,” lawyer for the remote residents Daniel Kelly told NITV.

“When the system had run away from itself it needed to be brought back and I think this was the inevitable outcome tragic as it that the money has been lost to the system.”

CLP spokesman for housing and homelands Bill Yan said the $70 million of taxpayer money being written-off was $10 million higher than what was previously thought and was only done because the government has failed to properly manage remote housing.

“The Fyles Labor Government needs to explain why $70 million of remote rental debts were wiped. Is this just remote housing that’s owed, or is there more money owed for urban housing again?” he said.

“Only a month ago the Minister said her department was undertaking a process to look at the uncollected rent and now she is writing it off.

“It has not been explained how the unpaid remote housing rents have also increased from $60 million to $70 million in just over a month. Where is this $10 million discrepancy from?”

“Where is the transparency and honesty in the estimates process? The Minister at the time obviously knew that writing it off was the likely outcome but she deliberately chose not to disclose it during the Estimates process or was the Minister just trying to hide this option from Territorians?”

As of July 29, there were 5,941 applications on the NT public housing waiting list, and only 162 vacant urban homes.

Mr Yan pointed out that the government’s NT Homelessness Strategy 2018-23 failed to deliver sufficient housing and support at the rate required to ease the large public housing waiting lists.

“There are many questions which remain unanswered and this government continues to sit in silence on the issues that matter most to Territorians,” he said.

 

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