Page 1610 - Week 05 - Thursday, 2 June 2022
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Ms Lee interjecting—
MR RATTENBURY: Whilst the interjections continue, I will now turn to the substance of the matter. It is a very important matter and it is one that I know Minister Vassarotti has been working on extensively. I will go through the details because I am not sure whether it is through deliberate political strategy or wilful ignorance but Ms Lee has failed to recognise the extensive work that has already taken place in this space.
All of us were chilled by the scenes of the Grenfell tragedy in the UK in 2017. That disaster highlighted the risks of certain products that had been widely used across the world and saw governments across Australia and the world respond to this newly identified risk. This tragedy spurred governments across the world to act, and I would like to assure the Assembly that, since that time, the ACT government has been working to protect the community and manage the risk posed by the situation.
This is an opportune time to update this Assembly and those who are watching on what has been occurring over the last few years to deal with this issue, and what is currently underway. In 2017 the ACT government formed the Inter-agency Building Cladding Review Group to determine whether combustible materials had been used in territory buildings in a way that posed a risk to building occupants. This was a complex issue and, as in other jurisdictions, there was a need to understand the specific risk for ACT government-owned properties, as well as the risk for other building owners. A key issue for this group was to assess the risk to the public with regard to ACT government-owned buildings.
During this time the ACT government also worked with other jurisdictions to amend the National Construction Code to ensure that these products were not used. An amendment to the National Construction Code came into effect in the ACT in March 2018 to provide absolute clarity that in type A or B construction—apartments over three storeys are type A—the external walls and common walls, including the facade covering the framing and the insulation, must be non-combustible. Previously, the National Construction Code did not specifically mention these elements of the facade with regard to non-combustibility, which led to the general interpretation across Australia that the requirements for non-combustibility did not apply to cladding.
In December 2019 a cladding audit response team was established to progress the important work in addressing the issues identified with ACT government buildings through further detailed assessments and identification of remediation options. Since this time the ACT government has been working to rectify all buildings that have been assessed to have either a high or moderate risk. Despite COVID-19 restrictions, a construction lockdown and significant challenges around supply chains and skill shortages, I am pleased to note that this work has been progressing well and all ACT government buildings will be rectified by the end of the 2022 calendar year.
Members will be aware that the ACT government has proactively released information once buildings have been rectified, given the risks of releasing information prior to risks being minimised. The response team also undertook a
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video