Dame Judith Hackitt, who led the UK government inquiry into Britain's Grenfell Tower fire, said a similar tragedy was "entirely foreseeable" in Australia and criticised the "foolhardy" comments of politicians who said it could not happen here.

There was a "stark difference" between the urgency shown by authorities in Australia and by their UK counterparts, who had been stung to act by the cladding-related fire in June 2017 that killed 72 people, but Australian politicians could not assume their buildings were safe enough to prevent a similar occurrence, Dame Judith said.