Page 3049 - Week 07 - Thursday, 1 July 2010
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Clearly, the government has not done something about it. We will do something about it, in an open and inclusive way that gets to the bottom of the concerns, digs up the real issues and gets to why a system of this government has lost so much faith with the very people they are tasked with protecting. This motion is about a dispassionate examination of these issues. The motion is about getting answers as to why this government has not been able to address these concerns and, if they are proven to be substantiated, why the regulations failed to protect consumers. This motion will be about finding out why standards and procedures designed to protect consumers have been so comprehensively condemned by some of those consumers.
Our motion calls on the Standing Committee on Planning, Public Works and Territory and Municipal Services to inquire into and report to the Assembly by the last sitting day of 2010 the following matters: the concerns in the community of problems with building certification and workmanship and warranty in unit plans and single dwellings—this answers the needs of the OCN in their correspondence; and the recent request from the Owners Corporation Network for further investigation into the problems of building certification and warranty in unit plans.
It also calls on the Standing Committee on Planning, Public Works and Territory and Municipal Services to specifically inquire into how complaints have been and are dealt with by the ACT government, the means of addressing building faults and poor workmanship, legislative and regulatory reform needed to prevent further problems, measures that can be taken to assist owners and owners corporations to address current problems in building faults and poor workmanship, and the impact of the Unit Titles Act in addressing building faults and poor workmanship in unit plans in Canberra.
A viable, credible building industry is vital for the ACT, vital for growth and vibrancy, vital for infilling our urban areas and maximising our urban density potential and vital for the safety and security of home owners. As such, this inquiry is a vital part in guaranteeing that government discharges their key responsibilities in a professional, transparent and responsive manner.
I will, with your indulgence, Mr Speaker, briefly speak to the Greens’ amendment which has been circulated. I note the amendment circulated by Ms Le Couteur, and I thank her for her support in the need for further investigation. Unfortunately, her motion calls on the government to investigate itself and report back to the Assembly. For that reason, we will not be supporting the amendment.
The very genesis of this complaint, the core problem, is that the government has not investigated itself properly. I refer again to the OCN letter:
We noted with interest and astonishment the comments of the CEO of ACT Planning and Land Authority on the Stateline program.
This government does not have a good record of open self-examination. This case, in particular, is all about the failure of the government to regulate itself. As such, we cannot let the government continue doing precisely what is being complained about as an answer to that complaint.
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