❓ Mr. Katsambanis questions the Minister for Commerce about the Department's response to potential breaches of the Residential Tenancies Act by Sterling First and the actions taken to alert the public to investment risks. The Minister details the Department's actions, including alerting ASIC, and expresses disappointment with ASIC's response time.
AnsweredQoN 427Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STERLING FIRST —
RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES ACT — BREACHES
427. Mr P.A. KATSAMBANIS to the Minister for Commerce:
I refer to the appalling collapse
of Sterling First and the minister's admission in the house yesterday
that the Department of Commerce was aware of potential breaches of the state
Residential Tenancies Act as far back as 2017. Given that the department was
aware of potential breaches, what action did it take to investigate those
breaches and, importantly, what actions did the department and the government
take to alert the public about the potential risks of investing in Sterling
First?
RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES ACT — BREACHES
427. Mr P.A. KATSAMBANIS to the Minister for Commerce:
I refer to the appalling collapse
of Sterling First and the minister's admission in the house yesterday
that the Department of Commerce was aware of potential breaches of the state
Residential Tenancies Act as far back as 2017. Given that the department was
aware of potential breaches, what action did it take to investigate those
breaches and, importantly, what actions did the department and the government
take to alert the public about the potential risks of investing in Sterling
First?
AnswerView source ↗
The
Department of Commerce went to Sterling First and pointed out some of the
breaches. As I understand it, some
amendments were made to the tenancy agreements being offered to prospective
residents by the company. They were to do with notice periods that are required
under the act and tenants' rights; they were minor technical deficiencies
in the agreements, which the company said would be and were rectified. It has
to be understood that these corporations were constructed under the
commonwealth corporations legislation. The department took further action by
ringing the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to alert it to
what was happening, and asked it to
investigate and protect those people, as the department should have done.
Personally , I am a bit disappointed with the length of time ASIC took,
but, nonetheless, it appointed an administrator. It is a shocking situation.
Department of Commerce went to Sterling First and pointed out some of the
breaches. As I understand it, some
amendments were made to the tenancy agreements being offered to prospective
residents by the company. They were to do with notice periods that are required
under the act and tenants' rights; they were minor technical deficiencies
in the agreements, which the company said would be and were rectified. It has
to be understood that these corporations were constructed under the
commonwealth corporations legislation. The department took further action by
ringing the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to alert it to
what was happening, and asked it to
investigate and protect those people, as the department should have done.
Personally , I am a bit disappointed with the length of time ASIC took,
but, nonetheless, it appointed an administrator. It is a shocking situation.
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.