Evidence to the Legislative Council Public Accountability Committee into the regulation of building standards, building quality and building disputes.

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Published: Thursday, 05 September 2019 12:10

 

The PAC invited depa to give evidence and be examined by the Committee on our submission - which we forwarded to you all on 29 July. We did this on 27 August, invited to start with an opening statement and then to answer questions of members of the Committee, which happened in a pleasant process with even a joke or two.

Here is a transcript of the evidence. It is marked “Uncorrected” but those who give evidence are allowed a week to correct errors but restricted from making themselves sound better than they were or more articulate. Or for the AIBS and AAC representatives, when questioned about penalties, or the appropriateness of struck off certifiers still running a business employing other certifiers, a little less evasive.

So the link is to our suggested corrections in red pen (as suggested) which are things that were not properly transcribed. For example, when one of the members of the Committee pointed out that Mascot Towers was certified by the Council, I described it as a nya, nya, nya moment for private certifiers and not, as the transcript showed, naa naa naa. Given the way politicians behave in what they still like to call the Bear Pit of the Legislative Assembly, you would have thought those responsible for transcribing the recording would have heard nya, nya, nya before.

It’s clear already from that experience that the representatives of the Government, both Liberal and National party and the representatives of the Labor are more interested in applying more lipstick to the pig and are likely to be recommending a bigger, better funded, better staffed Building Commission than one bloke as a Building Commissioner and a few helpers. You never really know how courageous the representatives of political parties are in examining something their forebears did which is turned out to be hopeless and unmanageable.

But you never know, there is considerable merit in recreating the role of the Builders Licensing Board within a properly staffed and funded Building Commission and seeing how it goes. A more attractive looking pig.

Not as good as our submission to return it all to local government.