Opinion: Minister again in the crosshairs of fed-up QBCC victims
Treasurer Cameron Dick has been called on to overrule minister Mick de Brenni over a QBCC reform he is yet to implement.
Peter Gleeson
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Frustrated homeowners are calling on Treasurer Cameron Dick to overrule Public Works Minister Mick de Brenni and immediately implement a key Varghese review finding stripping the state’s building watchdog of its role running a contentious home warranty scheme.
In the wake of his $380,000 review into the Queensland Building and Construction Commission, Jim Varghese proposed transferring the home warranty scheme to another government department or agency, such as Treasury.
“The conflict of interest associated with the QBCC being both the industry regulator and the industry insurer continues to be an ongoing source of criticism,” Dr Varghese wrote in his report, publicly released in June.
“To address this issue, an option worthy of policy consideration is for the scheme to be administered separately from the QBCC.
“Such an approach would ensure decisions about licensing and directions to rectify building work (and the disputes that follow) have no regard to the financial impacts of those decisions on the scheme”.
Dr Varghese noted about 62 per cent of respondents to an online survey did not believe the QBCC managed the scheme in a timely, accurate, fair and transparent manner.
But instead of committing to fully implement Dr Varghese’s recommendation, Mr de Brenni has offered only in-principle support, stressing further analysis is required.
A spokesman for the QBCC Action Group, made of up homeowners, builders and current and former commission staff, said it was time Mr Dick stepped in “to sort out this long-running charade”.
“It seems Mr de Brenni is more concerned with protecting the cash pool of the scheme than paying out legitimate claims,” the spokesman said.
