Page 4568 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
common property of a units plan under certain circumstances. I note that the Owners Corporation Network convened an information session for owners on their legal obligations and rights under the act. I believe this is a very positive step, as addressing complaints in common areas requires an informed and engaged body corporate throughout the process.
As we in this place know, legislative reform cannot occur overnight. There are checks and balances in developing legislation that must be adhered to and wider consultation will be needed on many of the reforms. I intend to continue the forum and working groups in the short term to refine major proposals and to bring forward any new recommendations for reform suggested by the ongoing work to gather and analyse information on the scale and scope of building defects.
Whilst reform has already begun, the transformation of the building industry will obviously take longer than just a few months. That is why the report also includes a recommendation to review the funding model for construction regulation and ensure that regulators can respond to the need for increased services. This process has put industry on notice.
As I said at the first building quality forum meeting, shoddy building should be a thing of the past. This report represents the first step in making this a reality in the ACT. I encourage all members to engage constructively on this issue so that we can all work together to get this right for the long term.
MS LE COUTEUR (Molonglo) (11.13): I thank Mr Barr for his report. I note that the report came about as a response to a motion passed by the Assembly on 1 July this year, which, of course, followed significant public concern about poor building quality in the ACT, specifically in multi-unit dwellings. The motion originally put forward by the Liberals called for an Assembly inquiry, and it was my belief at the time that, rather than an Assembly inquiry, we would be better off with ACTPLA sitting down with the stakeholders and using all the expertise involved to collaboratively develop solutions. I think that the results of this report have demonstrated that was the correct response.
It is clear, from reading the report, that there has been concerted effort put forward in considering solutions over the past three months within the building forum. The report clearly was written quite quickly and written obviously by ACTPLA. I must admit that I have heard some criticism of the report that it has been a bit too forgiving of ACTPLA and its role. However, generally most of the comments I have heard are at the very least steps in the right direction, if not a lot more than that.
I would like to thank all of those involved in the process, particularly the members of the four working groups who have put a lot of time, effort and thought into the issues in the past few months. In this regard, I would like to note particularly the efforts of Gary Petherbridge of the Owners Corporation Network who participated in all four working groups.
Looking at the report, the industry representatives agreed that the majority of problems were in the multi-unit developments over three storeys and under 10 storeys.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video