Ms KYLIE WILKINSON (East Hills) (13:09): My question is addressed to the Minister for Building. Will the Minister please update the House on the new Building Commissioner's role in helping to deliver the Minns Labor Government's plan to restore confidence in the State's building sector?
Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG (Macquarie Fields—Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology, Minister for Building, and Minister for Corrections) (13:10): I thank the member for East Hills for her question and interest in a very important subject for the New South Wales building industry. I am pleased to advise the House that Mr James Sherrard has been appointed as the new Building Commissioner by the Secretary of the Department of Customer Service. The appointment of Mr Sherrard follows a global recruitment process. He brings more than 30 years of public and private sector experience to the role. Mr Sherrard has led civic, residential and sporting infrastructure projects, including the Sydney Olympics, and has a wealth of international construction experience, having worked on projects in the United Kingdom, Algeria, Afghanistan and Hong Kong.
Mr Sherrard will start on 2 December, following the retirement of former Building Commissioner David Chandler in August. Mr Chandler was an outspoken force who created positive change in the building industry in New South Wales. He made no apologies for being a tough cop on the beat, which is what the sector needed at the time. I am confident that Mr Sherrard will build on Mr Chandler's legacy and continue to strongly enforce legislation, where necessary, without fear or favour. However, the Building Commission is now in a new phase of growth, and the new commissioner must necessarily take a different approach. Mr Sherrard will lead a mature, professional regulator that will focus also on recognising what good building looks like through education and collaboration.
I am very proud that last year the Minns Labor Government fulfilled its election commitment to establish the Building Commission, transforming the 10-person office of the Building Commissioner into a more than 400‑strong standalone regulator. The regulator uses sophisticated data matching and intelligence to target bad players, and it has a presence in the State's regions. I am proud to say also that we are restoring confidence in the construction sector by removing the shonky operators, fly-by-night cowboys and phoenixing of bad companies, while also increasing building industry capability to ensure that we deliver the State's housing needs. While we must boost housing supply, we will not—I repeat, we will not—compromise on quality.
To that end, we have boosted the powers of the Building Commission in the following ways. First, last year we expanded the powers of the commission to class 1 buildings, so inspectors are now able to enter a house under construction, request documents or information, and examine and test building work. Secondly, the Building Commission can now also issue orders compelling developers to fix defects and stop building work when continuing could lead to significant harm to the public or occupiers. That is because we want residents to be confident that the biggest purchase they will likely make in their lifetime is built to the highest standards. [Extension of time]
The Government has also expanded powers for the Building Commission to combat intentional phoenixing activities and insolvency abuse in the construction industry. That includes stopping people from holding contractor licences when they have been involved in insolvencies or intentional phoenixing activity. This is also a move towards greater accountability and transparency against those who would exploit Australian corporate laws for personal gain at the expense of honest tradespeople and hardworking home owners. We have also updated the Home Building Act to close a loophole, making it clear that builders are not entitled to progress payments where work is done without a licence or insurance.
Finally, we have tightened up the rules around unsafe products being used in the industry, because anyone involved in specifying or supplying building products must ensure they are compliant with the National Construction Code, standards and laws. Those reforms demonstrate that the Building Commission has the powers and resources in place for its next phase of growth. With the depth and breadth of experience that Mr Sherrard will bring to his role as commissioner, I am confident the commission will continue to have the leadership it requires to do the important work it needs to do. I congratulate Mr Sherrard on his appointment and very much look forward to working with him.
