Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Defence Housing Authority has two major shareholders: the federal government and the Department of Defence. When we came to government, on that glorious day in August 2013, the new government came and had a real good look at the books. The Defence Housing Authority spends a lot of money, but they have a very good and well-run balance sheet and a very good business model. It relies a hell of a lot on private investment as well. It returns very handy dividends to the government and runs a great asset sheet. The Defence Housing Authority has never been for sale nor will it.

I was surprised when the CPSU press release arrived. It was a work of fiction to rival a Jules Verne novel. It said the Defence Housing Authority was going to be put up for sale, again. The Defence Housing Authority is not for sale, never has been and never will be by my government. Perhaps the CPSU would be better off providing services for their members as opposed to running fictitious scare campaigns.

I stand with my Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, my Minister for Defence, Marise Payne and my Assistant Minister for Defence, Darren Chester, in saying that the Defence Housing Authority is not for sale. Darren Chester has carriage of the Defence Housing Authority. I spoke with him when this thing came up. I said: 'Has something happened? I am sure that this was buried. We had a look at the books in 2013 and were saying DHA is a good return, has a good balance and was being very well run. Why would we get rid of it?' He said: 'Mate, I don’t know where this has come from. This is completely fictitious.'

While I have the floor, I give praise to my local DHA in Townsville, Bob Hayllet and the team at DHA in Kuluin. They do a fantastic job. We have a lot of people using Defence Housing in Townsville—and not just the people who live there. We have a lot of people who use it for the self-funded retirement packages—self-funded superannuation. We have a lot of people using that guaranteed return. They look after the assets for the people of Townsville. They look after the assets for the people of Australia. They make sure that the houses are well cared for and the tenants are well behaved. They make sure that the neighbours are well cared for. When someone rings up and they have a problem with a DHA house, Bob and the team act on it straight away. It is a great service. It is a great organisation and it forms a fantastic part of what we do for Defence. Defence is hugely important to our side of the government. It is hugely important to all sides of government in this place. Everyone takes it seriously. To provide good services for our Defence personnel who travel around the country is critically important. DHA is not for sale.