Page 1948 - Week 07 - Thursday, 13 August 2020
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spokesperson advised that Fair Trading was investigating complaints about a business, Pink Frosting. Minister, what has been the outcome of investigations into the complaints against the large party supplies business, Pink Frosting?
MR RATTENBURY: I will take that question. Responsibility for these matters sits within my portfolio of consumer affairs. I will have to take the question on notice. Investigations on that have been conducted by the commissioner, who operates independently of my ministerial direction and will be undertaking those investigations. I will need to seek advice on the status of that.
MS LAWDER: Minister, how many complaints did Fair Trading receive on this particular matter, and have all complainants now received a refund?
MR RATTENBURY: I cannot remember, off the top of my head. I will take that on notice and provide the answer to Ms Lawder as soon as practicable.
MISS C BURCH: Minister, what action have you, ACT Fair Trading or the ACCC taken, further to this, to protect consumers from similar occurrences, including timely refunds?
MR RATTENBURY: We have, of course, the Australian Consumer Law, which provides a range of protections. Access Canberra, through the Fair Trading agency, implements those laws. They exist for consumers or constituents to call on and seek their advice. As members may recall, we have just brought a new mechanism into the Assembly, the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill, which we intend to debate this week, which creates a mechanism for the Fair Trading Commissioner to actually conciliate between parties on claims under $5,000, to make it easier for people with small but important disputes to seek support without necessarily having to spend a lot of money on legal advice or court processes and the like.
Schools—lead paint
MS LEE: My question is to the Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development. Minister, I have raised with you on a number of occasions concerns about the presence of hazardous material in classrooms at Yarralumla Primary School, starting in March last year. On Thursday, 6 August this year, your office sent me a copy of the Robson Environmental report T-01035, dated 23 April 2019, on lead paint assessment at that school. The email from your office went on to say that all of the actions recommended by Robson in that report had been completed by mid-2019. If all actions were undertaken and completed, why were the classrooms recently closed, and when were parents first notified about the presence of lead?
MS BERRY: I thank Ms Lee for the question. I understand that Ms Lee has had some interest in the lead paint management, maintenance and removal at Yarralumla Primary School, and so have—
Mrs Dunne: So did the parents.
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