MICHAEL PETTERSSON MLA: PUBLIC BUILDING CERTIFIERS BACK ON THE AGENDA

Canberrans rightly expect that when they are buying a home that it is built to a high standard.

Unfortunately, there are too many examples of homes with defects that have been ticked off by dodgy private certifiers.

ACT Labor believes that essential public services should be provided by government which is why we have today recommitted to establishing a team of public sector certifiers to restore confidence in the Territory's construction sector.

This follows the previous election commitments made by ACT Labor and the ACT Greens to put this service back into public hands and improve building quality. Unfortunately, this commitment to Canberrans has not been actioned in this parliamentary term.

The Minister recently announced alternate reforms that would increase oversight of private certification in the ACT but not to establish public certifiers as promised. Employing a team of public servants to review the work of qualified private building certifiers is merely expanding upon the existing regulatory oversight role of the ACT Government. It doesn’t change the system – it embeds it – when Canberrans are clearly calling out for bold action.  

These actions rightly caused concern that the Minister was trying to close the door on public building certifiers in Canberra. That’s why I moved a motion in the ACT Legislative Assembly yesterday to urgently debate these reforms and demonstrate the widespread support for public certifiers. The passage of my amended motion firmly places public certifiers back on the agenda for Canberra.

ACT Labor remains committed to delivering progressive, practical, and proven policies just like public building certifiers.

Media Contact:

Name: Jasmine Dickinson   P: 02 6205 1436   E: [email protected]