Thursday June 6 saw virtually all the Alice Springs builders come together over concerns bought on by the introduction of the MBA Fidelity Fund by the previous Government as a kneejerk reaction to the Carey Builders failure.
This Last Resort scheme in the southern States has had devastating impacts on both builders and consumers with unimaginable outcomes, and has been maintained under an illusion as the regulatory oversight was removed by the instigators at the outset.
The nations consumer advocate ‘Choice’ in their written assesment of Last Resort refer to it as Junk policies/certificates not worth the paper they are written on, and making a mockery of consumer protection while the Productivity Commission state its been a running sore since inception.
Due to the ongoing controversy, the media exposure, and the dramatic consumer impacts the Victorian agencies of the Auditor General and the Ombudsman have finally exposed a hotbed of collusion, corruption, and the misuse of public funds by the building regulator surrounding trade associations and the large builders.
As a result the whole of the Building Commision is to be abolished and replaced by a new Authority so the industry can start afresh according to the Government.
These are now the known impacts of Last Resort consumer protection scheme and accordingly the NT builders and their building consumers have every reason to be very concerned.
The NT building industry wants consumer protection and industry management that will benefit the wider industry in line with Government Policy. We will fund a transparent regime, and work with the Giles Government to establish a regime that will deliver to both parties being our consumers and our industry.
The Territory builders will not support a Last Resort scheme that only benefits MBA while taking the industry into disrepute as it has done in the southern States.
