❓ Opposition questions the government's Nicheliving bailout, implying a lack of confidence in the Building Services Board. The Premier defends the agreement as a speedy resolution to help affected customers access home indemnity insurance and complete their homes.
AnsweredQoN 656Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
NICHELIVING —
STATE ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL APPEAL AGREEMENT
656. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
I refer to the state government's
$40 million taxpayer-funded bailout of Nicheliving, a company responsible for
causing extensive financial and emotional harm to hundreds of customers. I note
that its directors will face no financial consequences for the damage
inflicted.
(1) Does this
bailout imply that the state government lacks confidence in the Building
Services Board's ability to defend Nicheliving's deregistration
in the State Administrative Tribunal?
(2) Given that
its directors have already established several new companies while Nicheliving
collapses, what steps is the government taking to safeguard Western Australian
consumers from the individual company directors' business practices?
STATE ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL APPEAL AGREEMENT
656. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
I refer to the state government's
$40 million taxpayer-funded bailout of Nicheliving, a company responsible for
causing extensive financial and emotional harm to hundreds of customers. I note
that its directors will face no financial consequences for the damage
inflicted.
(1) Does this
bailout imply that the state government lacks confidence in the Building
Services Board's ability to defend Nicheliving's deregistration
in the State Administrative Tribunal?
(2) Given that
its directors have already established several new companies while Nicheliving
collapses, what steps is the government taking to safeguard Western Australian
consumers from the individual company directors' business practices?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question.
Before I answer, I welcome guests on behalf of members who are here, but in particular I welcome our delegates from Tamil
Nadu. We are honoured to have you with us. Thank you very much.
(1)–(2) We
have been working for some time to bring a resolution to the issues that are
confronted by Nicheliving customers. Indeed, the Leader of the Opposition
himself has been urging the government to take action to make sure we bring a resolution
as soon as possible. My government last week reached an agreement with Nicheliving that will see the company cease
its State Administrative Tribunal appeal and relinquish its building
contractor licence. This is the pivotal moment we needed to make sure that
customers can access the home indemnity insurance scheme. We could have sat on
our hands and waited for the State Administrative Tribunal appeals process to
continue on, as Nicheliving had the right to contest the decision by the
Builders Registration Board, but my government decided that we wanted to stand
by those customers and get those customers in their homes as soon as possible,
and the smoothest way that we could make that happen was to bring about a speedy
resolution of this troublesome appeal to the State Administrative Tribunal.
Importantly, it means that impacted customers can now access home indemnity
insurance, which lets them engage a new builder of their choice to complete
their homes and move on with their lives. Under the agreement, Nicheliving and
its company directors cannot apply for or seek registration as a building
services contractor for the next 10 years in their own names, personally,
indirectly or through another entity. They also cannot seek to take control of
another building service contractor in any
other manner that would see them carrying out building services within WA. The
sanctions against Nicheliving are very serious. These are sanctions to
which it has agreed in order to enable it to move through this troubled period.
Importantly,
this provides for those customers to get their homes built as soon as possible.
I know there are people out there who
want to seek revenge and want punitive action taken against Nicheliving.
Nicheliving has sustained significant financial penalties and
reputational damage, and, of course, it is still subject to its owings to various creditors and other
entities. It does not get out of this scot-free. This agreement provides an opportunity for people to get a roof above their heads as soon as possible.
That is an indication of the leadership that we are providing in this situation
to ensure we can assist those people. They have had a tough time. Some of them
signed contracts in 2020. We wanted to make sure that we got behind them. I expect that the Leader of the Opposition will
commend the government in this context because this brings about a speedy
resolution to a difficult situation. Through that speedy resolution, these
people can seek compensation through home
indemnity insurance and they can now get their homes built and put this whole sorry saga behind them.
Before I answer, I welcome guests on behalf of members who are here, but in particular I welcome our delegates from Tamil
Nadu. We are honoured to have you with us. Thank you very much.
(1)–(2) We
have been working for some time to bring a resolution to the issues that are
confronted by Nicheliving customers. Indeed, the Leader of the Opposition
himself has been urging the government to take action to make sure we bring a resolution
as soon as possible. My government last week reached an agreement with Nicheliving that will see the company cease
its State Administrative Tribunal appeal and relinquish its building
contractor licence. This is the pivotal moment we needed to make sure that
customers can access the home indemnity insurance scheme. We could have sat on
our hands and waited for the State Administrative Tribunal appeals process to
continue on, as Nicheliving had the right to contest the decision by the
Builders Registration Board, but my government decided that we wanted to stand
by those customers and get those customers in their homes as soon as possible,
and the smoothest way that we could make that happen was to bring about a speedy
resolution of this troublesome appeal to the State Administrative Tribunal.
Importantly, it means that impacted customers can now access home indemnity
insurance, which lets them engage a new builder of their choice to complete
their homes and move on with their lives. Under the agreement, Nicheliving and
its company directors cannot apply for or seek registration as a building
services contractor for the next 10 years in their own names, personally,
indirectly or through another entity. They also cannot seek to take control of
another building service contractor in any
other manner that would see them carrying out building services within WA. The
sanctions against Nicheliving are very serious. These are sanctions to
which it has agreed in order to enable it to move through this troubled period.
Importantly,
this provides for those customers to get their homes built as soon as possible.
I know there are people out there who
want to seek revenge and want punitive action taken against Nicheliving.
Nicheliving has sustained significant financial penalties and
reputational damage, and, of course, it is still subject to its owings to various creditors and other
entities. It does not get out of this scot-free. This agreement provides an opportunity for people to get a roof above their heads as soon as possible.
That is an indication of the leadership that we are providing in this situation
to ensure we can assist those people. They have had a tough time. Some of them
signed contracts in 2020. We wanted to make sure that we got behind them. I expect that the Leader of the Opposition will
commend the government in this context because this brings about a speedy
resolution to a difficult situation. Through that speedy resolution, these
people can seek compensation through home
indemnity insurance and they can now get their homes built and put this whole sorry saga behind them.
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.