At the UnCut Rally in Brisbane on August 28th in Brisbane the TUQ Coordinator Penny Carr explained the issues concerning the cuts to funding and calls for action to reinstate.
TUQ Coordinator Penny Carr addresses Uncut rally – Brisbane Aug 23 2012.
UnCut Rally Brisbane – TUQ Coordinator explains the Qld Government's withdrawal of funding of the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Services, a long standing service funded from the interest on tenants' bond monies.
A petition has been launched on the Queensland parliament website. Click here to go to it. The principal petitioner is the member for South Brisbane, Jackie Trad.
The petiion states:
Queensland residents draws to the attention of the House the appalling decision by the LNP Queensland Government to axe funding to the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Service, Queensland Tenants Union, Caravan and Manufactured Home Residents Association of Queensland Inc. and many other services that provide frontline advocacy for housing tenants.
These services are a vital resource to many Queenslanders, and their loss will result in many losing their voice when it comes to disputes in the private and social housing market. Further, services funded under TAASQ intervene to prevent homelessness amongst Queensland families and their absence will have a negative affect on homeless rates in Queensland.
Your petitioners therefore request the House to compel the LNP Queensland Government to revoke its decision and reinstate full funding to the above mentioned services.
Don’t forget the day of action on Tuesday August 28. See the full details at https://savetenantservices.net.au/498/day-of-action-call-to-reinstate-on-august-28/
Geoff Smiley, Chair of the Bayside Tenant Advice and Advocacy Service shares his heartfelt views about the withdrawal of funding to their service
The Government’s recent decision to close down Tenant Advice and Advocacy (TAAS) programs across Queensland is cruel in its blatant disregard for the disadvantaged. As chair of one of the management committees (Bayside TAAS) I can only infer from what has happened that the Government is incompetent in identifying where cuts should be made or wants to direct resources away from the disadvantaged. How else would they decide a self-funding; frontline; and community managed service (by volunteers!) be discontinued. Continue reading
Minister Flegg has just announced he’s on the lookout for parcel of land in Logan where his department can develop 200 units of housing at a multimillion dollar pricetag. As a public private partnership and with a view to achieving mixed communities, only a proportion of the units will end up as social housing.
According to the Minister, it’s the ‘scrimping and saving’ that’s made the project possible, including the ‘contraversial axing of a tenants advisory service’, and freed up money for the government to contribute.
Scrimping and saving?? Given that tenant advice funding is derived mainly from tenant bond interest, isn’t it more like an additional tax on tenants, an appropriation of their bond interest at the expense of the only direct benefit they get from it – tenant advice services?
These monies are simply not the government’s to save or scrimp. Continue reading
The member for Lytton, Neil Symes, is mistaken when he says options for tenants are covered when their local advice service closes at the end of October. Tenant advice services are the only free specialised advice available for tenants in Queensland and the government has decided to withdraw funding from all 23 of them. That’s despite the fact they are virtually consumer funded because the lion’s share of money for the program is generated from the interest on tenants’ bonds.
A Sunshine Coast community centre working with the homeless has expressed grave concerns about the complete cut of funding to the local tenant advice service. Community centre workers fear the loss of the centre will leave people more vulnerable. Continue reading
We need your help on Tuesday August 28th, a day of action calling for the complete reinstatement of the Tenant Advice and Advocacy (TAAS) Program. YOUR CALL!!
What you can do:
If you want you can add some or all of the following pieces of information to your call:
We want to show the extent of concern for the funding cuts to tenant advice services on August 28 and need as many people as possible to join in! Come on, make the call!
For the Brisbane event we will be bright and organised. Please come along if you can.
Contact details:
HOUSING MINISTER PREMIER
Hon Bruce Flegg MP Hon Campbell Newman MP
Ph – 3237 1832 Ph – 3224 4500
Fax – 3012 9017 Fax – 3221 1809
[email protected] [email protected]
Ask for the Premier and Housing Minister. If they’re not available, their Chief of Staff or senior/policy advisor. If no one is available ask the person who answers to leave your message to reinstate the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Program and if you want, ask them to call you back.
The Mackay tenant advice service recently aired concerns over the Minister for Housing & Public Works’ ‘false economy’ view.
The Minister wishes to redirect funds from the Tenant Advice and Advocacy program into the building of public housing. However program funds will build less than one house per area covered by one of the 23 tenant advice services statewide and result in housing 20 households from a wait list of 30,000.
This compares to 80,000 renting households assisted annually by the Tenant Advice and Advocacy program. Most of these households live in the private rental market and services help to keep people housed and off the social housing waitlist. See the whole story here Mackay 4-8
Rockhampton tenant advice worker Debbie Willebrand is concerned about renters in the area when their only free tenant advice service is defunded at the end of October. During the month of May alone, 180 households were assisted.
Ms Willebrand points out that most of the households assisted are living in the private rental market, and the tenant advice service helps many of them to remain housed. The Minister’s stated aim to reallocate tenant advice funding to put roofs over people’s heads is misguided because it belies the fact that these services are doing just that and reducing the demand for public housing.
In the article, the Minister fails to point out that the ‘funding’ from the Residential Tenancies Authority is actually interest generated on tenants’ bonds, which funds the vase majority of tenant advice services.
Read the whole article and the Minister’s comments at http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/story/2012/08/16/tenant-advice-service-to-close/
Funding cuts to the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Program, affecting the Tenants’ Union of Queensland and 22 local tenant advice services, get a mention in the latest Green Left Weekly. Their loss is lamented by community housing worker Margaret Gleeson.
In a piece riddled with sarcasm, the Courier Mail today mentions the cuts to local tenant advice services and the sale of caravan parks. Hundreds of comments are made after the article too. All worth a read at http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/newman-government-budget-cuts-slay-the-big-end-of-town-not/story-e6frerc6-1226452911460
Where will the tenants who rely on their services go after October 31?
http://www.gympietimes.com.au/story/2012/07/28/fallout-fear-for-gympie-rug-pulled-out/#addcomment 
Back: Judy Brauer, Lee Prince, Donna Weaver, and Karen Winkel. Front: Tanya Easterby, Leonie Hempsall, Sue Deacon, Cyd Kelly, Kellie Stirton, Cynthia Less-Smith, Maria Toms and Sue Wade (Renee Pilcher)
Like many other regions, Gympie residents were perplexed by the decision to cut the local Tenant Advice and Advocacy service. http://www.gympietimes.com.au/story/2012/07/28/newman-axe-cuts-deeply-community-worker-support/
Concerns about the loss of the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Service in West End were aired in the the Westender recently
http://www.westender.com.au/news/1341
