❓ Mr. Love questions the Premier about the government's bailout of Nicheliving and the lack of protection for apartment buyers. The Premier defends the government's actions, highlighting their priority to provide housing for affected customers.
AnsweredQoN 689Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
NICHELIVING — APARTMENT DEVELOPMENTS
689. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
Before I ask my question to the Premier, Madam Speaker, I was
not here yesterday so I would like to acknowledge you and your announcement. I congratulate
you on your career and service to the people of Western Australia and wish you
all the very best in the next phase.
I refer to the state government's $40 million
taxpayer-funded bailout of Nicheliving and note that its directors will face no
financial consequences for the damage they have inflicted on hundreds of Western
Australian families.
(1) Noting
that dozens of Nicheliving apartment buyers in developments like the Sky Homes
project in Inglewood have been left with
nothing, how does his government justify leaving these buyers without access to the same protections offered to other customers?
(2) Will the government provide any relief or
assistance to these apartment buyers who have been left stranded?
689. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
Before I ask my question to the Premier, Madam Speaker, I was
not here yesterday so I would like to acknowledge you and your announcement. I congratulate
you on your career and service to the people of Western Australia and wish you
all the very best in the next phase.
I refer to the state government's $40 million
taxpayer-funded bailout of Nicheliving and note that its directors will face no
financial consequences for the damage they have inflicted on hundreds of Western
Australian families.
(1) Noting
that dozens of Nicheliving apartment buyers in developments like the Sky Homes
project in Inglewood have been left with
nothing, how does his government justify leaving these buyers without access to the same protections offered to other customers?
(2) Will the government provide any relief or
assistance to these apartment buyers who have been left stranded?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2)
I thank the member for the question. It was not that long ago that the member
was in this place asking when we were going to do something about the customers
of Nicheliving, when we would get on with it and, ''Goodness me! I am
very concerned about these Nicheliving customers!'' We did that not
because of the member's urgings, but because we considered getting
those Nicheliving customers a roof over their heads as our highest priority. We
acted. We moved. As a result of that, we now have a resolution that will
benefit those customers and see them access the home indemnity insurance scheme
much sooner than if we had sat by and allowed the legal processes that were on
foot to take their course. We believe that this is the appropriate action.
Nicheliving
is no longer in existence as a builder. It will not be able to lay a single
brick for another 10 years. The penalties are severe. I find it odd that
the member would actually suggest that somehow a company, which was likely in
high financial stress anyway, being completely put out of business and
operation is a get-out-of-jail-free card. We
were focused on making sure that those people got into their homes as soon as possible. This is all part of our comprehensive approach to housing.
The disruptions to our housing
industry in the post–COVID pandemic period are like none we have seen
before; it is a once-in-a-generation thing. We are starting to now see balance
coming back into the market and our housing policies starting to work. As a result
of that, we are starting to see some relief in sight. However, there are some people for whom a resolution was not able to be
made in the course that we would like, so we acted. We acted on behalf
of those people because we wanted them to get a roof over their heads and that
is why I will continue to make sure that we work in that way.
I thank the member for the question. It was not that long ago that the member
was in this place asking when we were going to do something about the customers
of Nicheliving, when we would get on with it and, ''Goodness me! I am
very concerned about these Nicheliving customers!'' We did that not
because of the member's urgings, but because we considered getting
those Nicheliving customers a roof over their heads as our highest priority. We
acted. We moved. As a result of that, we now have a resolution that will
benefit those customers and see them access the home indemnity insurance scheme
much sooner than if we had sat by and allowed the legal processes that were on
foot to take their course. We believe that this is the appropriate action.
Nicheliving
is no longer in existence as a builder. It will not be able to lay a single
brick for another 10 years. The penalties are severe. I find it odd that
the member would actually suggest that somehow a company, which was likely in
high financial stress anyway, being completely put out of business and
operation is a get-out-of-jail-free card. We
were focused on making sure that those people got into their homes as soon as possible. This is all part of our comprehensive approach to housing.
The disruptions to our housing
industry in the post–COVID pandemic period are like none we have seen
before; it is a once-in-a-generation thing. We are starting to now see balance
coming back into the market and our housing policies starting to work. As a result
of that, we are starting to see some relief in sight. However, there are some people for whom a resolution was not able to be
made in the course that we would like, so we acted. We acted on behalf
of those people because we wanted them to get a roof over their heads and that
is why I will continue to make sure that we work in that way.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.