Page 3975 - Week 11 - Thursday, 26 September 2019
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MS CHEYNE: Chief Minister, how would you recommend that people get to the game?
MR BARR: On free public transport or in their vehicles and park legally and appropriately.
Building—regulation
MR GUPTA: My question is to the Minister for Building Quality Improvement. Minister, can you update the Assembly on the government’s efforts to crack down on dodgy builders?
MR RAMSAY: I thank Mr Gupta for this important question. The government is committed to cracking down on dodgy builders and removing them from the industry. We are committed to giving the regulator the tools that he needs to ensure action against those who are doing the wrong thing. We are committed to resourcing the regulator to do this important work.
That is why we have doubled the size of the building inspectorate in the most recent budget. We have funded eight new inspectors to undertake around an extra 1,000 building inspections per year. This will allow the trial of the rapid regulatory response team to be made a permanent feature of the inspectorate and ensure that building inspectors are on site quickly.
We have also funded four staff to administer the nation-leading builders licensing exams, which multiple other jurisdictions are inquiring about to see how they may be implemented in their states and territories. It is just one of the practical measures that we have implemented to check that those who are seeking to become a builder and those who are renewing their licence have the skills and the abilities we expect in a highly technical, complex and regulated profession.
This government is serious about ensuring the high quality of buildings in Canberra. We will hold builders to account for any poor work that they do. We will soon hold the directors of building companies to account should they seek to avoid doing the right thing. We will seek to remove those from the industry who are building poorly.
MR GUPTA: Minister, can you update the Assembly on the actions the regulator has taken to hold builders to account?
MR RAMSAY: I thank Mr Gupta for the supplementary question. I am pleased that complaints about building quality are reducing. I have been clear, the regulator has been clear, and the government has been clear as well: poor quality and noncompliance with the law will not be tolerated.
Last financial year the rapid regulatory response team finalised 246 cases, referred a further 42 cases to other regulatory areas of government and referred an additional 64 matters for further investigation. So far this financial year the team has closed an additional 23 cases, referred five cases to other regulatory areas of government and referred 18 for further monitoring or investigation.
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