❓ Opposition questions the government's handling of the Nicheliving situation, particularly regarding continued activity despite deregistration and calls for a review of building contract laws. The Premier defends the government's actions and accuses the opposition of inaction.
AnsweredQoN 728Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
NICHELIVING — STATE ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL APPEAL
AGREEMENT
728. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
I refer to reports in The West
Australian today that former Nicheliving customers, who have already been
subjected to years of hardship due to the government's inaction, are
now having their homes raided by Nicheliving staff. I also refer to comments by
Housing Industry Association director Michael McGowan, who has called for a review
of residential insurance and construction contracts in response to the
Nicheliving debacle.
(1) Given that the government's $40 million
deal with Nicheliving resulted in that builder losing its registration, why is the company still active on construction sites, and are these actions
consistent with the terms of the deal that the government negotiated?
(2) Will the Premier support industry calls for a review
of the Home Building Contracts Act to provide stronger protection for
customers and honest builders?
AGREEMENT
728. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
I refer to reports in The West
Australian today that former Nicheliving customers, who have already been
subjected to years of hardship due to the government's inaction, are
now having their homes raided by Nicheliving staff. I also refer to comments by
Housing Industry Association director Michael McGowan, who has called for a review
of residential insurance and construction contracts in response to the
Nicheliving debacle.
(1) Given that the government's $40 million
deal with Nicheliving resulted in that builder losing its registration, why is the company still active on construction sites, and are these actions
consistent with the terms of the deal that the government negotiated?
(2) Will the Premier support industry calls for a review
of the Home Building Contracts Act to provide stronger protection for
customers and honest builders?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for the question. Obviously, if the reports in the media are
substantiated, those matters are serious and should be reported to the police.
The removal of equipment or appliances from a dwelling that is rightly under
the ownership of the contractor that engaged the builder is theft. Therefore,
it is a pretty simple, straightforward event that should be reported to the
police and investigated. If the police find that those people have broken a law,
they will obviously pay the price. I have asked the Minister for Commerce to
look into this matter to find out the exact state of affairs.
I am a little familiar with the
insurance laws that we have in place because I doubled the insurance payouts
available under the home indemnity insurance scheme when I was the Minister for
Commerce, because we wanted to make sure that the scheme was fit for purpose
and represented the cost that someone incurs as
a result of completing their home. Our priority was to make sure that
Nicheliving customers could access that scheme as quickly as possible.
What we just had from the Leader of the Opposition was two mutually exclusive
options—one was to act and the other was to allow the process to run
its course. He seemed confused about where he actually wanted the government to
go—to allow the process of deregistration to run through the State Administrative Tribunal or to do what we did,
which was to act when we did to make sure that people got access to
their homes and were able to finish them off as soon as possible. We thought
that helping those people was more important than simply allowing the process
to run its course, which is what the Leader
of the Opposition was actually proposing. If the Leader of the Opposition were
in charge of government, we would still be sitting around today waiting
for the process to run its course. Mercifully, we have a government that is
taking action and making sure that we assist those people to get access to the
home indemnity insurance scheme so that they can get a roof over their heads
much sooner.
thank the member for the question. Obviously, if the reports in the media are
substantiated, those matters are serious and should be reported to the police.
The removal of equipment or appliances from a dwelling that is rightly under
the ownership of the contractor that engaged the builder is theft. Therefore,
it is a pretty simple, straightforward event that should be reported to the
police and investigated. If the police find that those people have broken a law,
they will obviously pay the price. I have asked the Minister for Commerce to
look into this matter to find out the exact state of affairs.
I am a little familiar with the
insurance laws that we have in place because I doubled the insurance payouts
available under the home indemnity insurance scheme when I was the Minister for
Commerce, because we wanted to make sure that the scheme was fit for purpose
and represented the cost that someone incurs as
a result of completing their home. Our priority was to make sure that
Nicheliving customers could access that scheme as quickly as possible.
What we just had from the Leader of the Opposition was two mutually exclusive
options—one was to act and the other was to allow the process to run
its course. He seemed confused about where he actually wanted the government to
go—to allow the process of deregistration to run through the State Administrative Tribunal or to do what we did,
which was to act when we did to make sure that people got access to
their homes and were able to finish them off as soon as possible. We thought
that helping those people was more important than simply allowing the process
to run its course, which is what the Leader
of the Opposition was actually proposing. If the Leader of the Opposition were
in charge of government, we would still be sitting around today waiting
for the process to run its course. Mercifully, we have a government that is
taking action and making sure that we assist those people to get access to the
home indemnity insurance scheme so that they can get a roof over their heads
much sooner.
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