❓ Antisocial behaviour—Ninth Avenue, Inglewood 531. Mr David Bolt to the Premier: Given that we are talking about listening to the community, I refer to the unacceptable antisocial behaviour that is imp
AnsweredQoN 531Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Antisocial behaviour—Ninth Avenue, Inglewood
531. Mr David Bolt to
the Premier:
Given that we are
talking about listening to the community, I refer to the unacceptable
antisocial behaviour that is impacting on the good tenants and nearby residents
of the social housing complex on Ninth Avenue, Inglewood, which was raised with
ministers as far back as December last year.
Ms Sandra Brewer interjected.
The Speaker: Sorry, member for Murray–Wellington.
Member for Cottesloe, you are interrupting your own member, which is making it
very difficult for him to ask the question and for the Premier to respond
because he cannot hear the question. Would the member for Murray–Wellington
like to start again, please?
Mr David Bolt: I refer to the unacceptable antisocial
behaviour that is impacting on the good tenants and nearby residents of the
social housing complex on Ninth Avenue, Inglewood, which was raised with the
Premier's ministers as far back as December last year.
(1) Why did the Premier refuse yesterday to take a
few minutes of his day to watch footage of what residents have had to live with
for months?
(2) Following these issues being raised with the
Premier yesterday, has he spoken with his Minister for Housing and Works and
Minister for Police about the plans to end this intolerable and distressing
situation for the residents and tenants of Inglewood?
531. Mr David Bolt to
the Premier:
Given that we are
talking about listening to the community, I refer to the unacceptable
antisocial behaviour that is impacting on the good tenants and nearby residents
of the social housing complex on Ninth Avenue, Inglewood, which was raised with
ministers as far back as December last year.
Ms Sandra Brewer interjected.
The Speaker: Sorry, member for Murray–Wellington.
Member for Cottesloe, you are interrupting your own member, which is making it
very difficult for him to ask the question and for the Premier to respond
because he cannot hear the question. Would the member for Murray–Wellington
like to start again, please?
Mr David Bolt: I refer to the unacceptable antisocial
behaviour that is impacting on the good tenants and nearby residents of the
social housing complex on Ninth Avenue, Inglewood, which was raised with the
Premier's ministers as far back as December last year.
(1) Why did the Premier refuse yesterday to take a
few minutes of his day to watch footage of what residents have had to live with
for months?
(2) Following these issues being raised with the
Premier yesterday, has he spoken with his Minister for Housing and Works and
Minister for Police about the plans to end this intolerable and distressing
situation for the residents and tenants of Inglewood?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for the
question. He has put the question to me and asks me whether I have spoken to
the Minister for Housing and Works about this issue when he could have just
simply asked the housing minister himself. I understand that he is afraid of
the minister for housing. He is a prodigious advocate for the housing sector
and a very effective minister. Obviously, we are taking this very seriously and
the Department of Housing and Works continues to work with the Western
Australia Police Force and the City of Stirling through a coordinated multi-agency
approach to address the concerns of the Inglewood community.
The department
remains in contact with tenants on Ninth Avenue and the minister for housing is
routinely briefed on the matter by departmental staff who are regularly at
the complex. A range of measures remain in place to manage the complex,
including regular inspections by departmental staff, regular meetings between
the department, WA police and the City of Stirling; CCTV; liquor restrictions
for all common areas of the complex; and enhanced tenant support. The department
has issued banning notices when complaints have been investigated and
corroborated. This means that non-tenants who have been causing trouble can be
barred from the premises and charged if they are found to be in breach of the
ban, which, I am informed, has in fact occurred. The department is also
prioritising the transfer of tenants at the complex who have indicated a desire
to relocate. We need to remind people that for tenants who behave poorly and do
not do the right thing, there are legal processes that the department must
follow because if it does not, the evictions will be unsuccessful. Any decision
to evict a social housing tenant lies with the magistrate as per the
Residential Tenancies Act.
The events of the other day were
highly regrettable and would have been very distressing for those involved. I
am informed that it is alleged that an exchange of words took place between a
49-year-old male victim and a 40-year-old male offender. The offender pulled
out a silver marker from his pocket and held it like a weapon and ran towards
the victim. It was not a knife, as has been alleged, but a silver marker pen.
The police attended and arrested the alleged offender who was still in
possession of that silver marker pen and the man was charged with carrying or
possessing an article with intent to cause fear. It needs to be remembered that
the person in question was not a tenant at the complex, but if anyone has any
issues in relation to antisocial or potentially unlawful behaviour, they should
contact the police. In this case, the police were able to respond in the appropriate
way and undertake an arrest of the alleged offender and the matters are in
hand.
The Speaker: Members, question time today has been
extremely lengthy. We have gone up to an hour already. There have been a lot of
interjections, a lot of lengthy answers from ministers and a lot of arguing
across the chamber. I have spoken before about making sure that the questions
are short and sharp and the responses are the same, and the interjections have
been beyond acceptable. This is a place where we conduct the business of the
government and that is what we need to get on with. In line with that, question
time is finished.
question. He has put the question to me and asks me whether I have spoken to
the Minister for Housing and Works about this issue when he could have just
simply asked the housing minister himself. I understand that he is afraid of
the minister for housing. He is a prodigious advocate for the housing sector
and a very effective minister. Obviously, we are taking this very seriously and
the Department of Housing and Works continues to work with the Western
Australia Police Force and the City of Stirling through a coordinated multi-agency
approach to address the concerns of the Inglewood community.
The department
remains in contact with tenants on Ninth Avenue and the minister for housing is
routinely briefed on the matter by departmental staff who are regularly at
the complex. A range of measures remain in place to manage the complex,
including regular inspections by departmental staff, regular meetings between
the department, WA police and the City of Stirling; CCTV; liquor restrictions
for all common areas of the complex; and enhanced tenant support. The department
has issued banning notices when complaints have been investigated and
corroborated. This means that non-tenants who have been causing trouble can be
barred from the premises and charged if they are found to be in breach of the
ban, which, I am informed, has in fact occurred. The department is also
prioritising the transfer of tenants at the complex who have indicated a desire
to relocate. We need to remind people that for tenants who behave poorly and do
not do the right thing, there are legal processes that the department must
follow because if it does not, the evictions will be unsuccessful. Any decision
to evict a social housing tenant lies with the magistrate as per the
Residential Tenancies Act.
The events of the other day were
highly regrettable and would have been very distressing for those involved. I
am informed that it is alleged that an exchange of words took place between a
49-year-old male victim and a 40-year-old male offender. The offender pulled
out a silver marker from his pocket and held it like a weapon and ran towards
the victim. It was not a knife, as has been alleged, but a silver marker pen.
The police attended and arrested the alleged offender who was still in
possession of that silver marker pen and the man was charged with carrying or
possessing an article with intent to cause fear. It needs to be remembered that
the person in question was not a tenant at the complex, but if anyone has any
issues in relation to antisocial or potentially unlawful behaviour, they should
contact the police. In this case, the police were able to respond in the appropriate
way and undertake an arrest of the alleged offender and the matters are in
hand.
The Speaker: Members, question time today has been
extremely lengthy. We have gone up to an hour already. There have been a lot of
interjections, a lot of lengthy answers from ministers and a lot of arguing
across the chamber. I have spoken before about making sure that the questions
are short and sharp and the responses are the same, and the interjections have
been beyond acceptable. This is a place where we conduct the business of the
government and that is what we need to get on with. In line with that, question
time is finished.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.