Monday 27 November 2017

I welcomed new powers for the Fair Trading Commissioner to ban the way a building product is used if it is unsafe. The commissioner can already ban products outright but a loophole allows for products that are only unsafe when used in certain circumstances, such as aluminium cladding in high rise towers. While I share concerns that the ban should occur at the supply end not at the use end, the bill will help protect consumers and I asked the minister to ensure the building industry is properly informed of any bans and helped to find alternatives.

I again asked the government to make sure that tenants are notified if their home is identified to have unsafe cladding following the audit of high rise towers. I also called for reforms to ensure that owners can get redress from defects because current timeframes and definitions favour builders. 

My speech is HERE and questions in Parliament are HERE.