Key Points
A Rebecca White Labor Government will support Tasmania’s building industry by stopping dodgy builders.
After 10 years of a Liberal Government, building companies have collapsed, leaving customers and workers stranded. Tasmanians need better protections and more work to stop this happening in the first place.
Labor’s Plan will:
- Bring forward laws to protect consumers and builders
- Review Consumer Building & Occupational Services
- Stop ‘phoenixing’ by making sure building companies are run by a licensed builder
Why we need it
Under years of Liberal government, nothing has been done to protect homeowners from dodgy builders while more and more families have been left in the lurch and out of pocket when their building companies have collapsed.
Instead, Tasmanians have had a government seemingly indifferent to this consumer harm.
“Labor will help support children and young people to seek a better future”
But our legislation needs to stop falling behind other states and territories when it comes to consumer protection.
The details
Labor’s Plan will:
- Bring forward laws to protect consumers and builders
A Rebecca White Labor Government will proclaim the Residential Building (Home Warranty Insurance Amendments) Act 2023 and the Residential Building (Miscellaneous Consumer Protection Amendments) Act 2023.
After ten years in Government, the Liberals were finally pushed to pass laws to protect homeowners and consumers in the building industry.
But now, more than 100 days later, those laws still haven’t come into effect. Labor will make it happen.
- Review Consumer Building & Occupational Services
A Rebecca White Labor Government will conduct a review into Consumer Building & Occupational Services to make sure it is doing its job to protect consumers.
It’s vital that we have the best consumer protection we can have after the failures of the last decade of Liberal Government.
- Stop corporate phoenixing
A Rebecca White Labor Government will introduce amendments to Occupational Licensing laws to bring Tasmania’s builder licensing legislation in line with other jurisdictions and prevent building company phoenixing activity.
Labor believes that you should not be able to run a building company unless a director of that company is a skilled and licensed builder. This is what consumers expect when they sign a contract to realise their dreams and build their home.
That’s why a Labor Government will require that at least one director of a building company be a licensed builder, to immediately prevent consumer harm from phoenixing activity.