Tuesday, 16 May 2023

Warrandyte electorate

Ryan SMITH (Warrandyte) (14:45): (144) My constituency question is to the Minister for Planning. Peter Collins of Doncaster East has been raising concerns about the lack of support from the Victorian Building Authority and Cladding Safety Victoria for several years now. Mr Collins’s building has a large amount of combustible cladding plus multiple roofing defects causing mould growth, leaving the building’s owners with soaring repair costs and general safety concerns. The fact that the building’s original builder has died obviously has left very little room for the owners to receive adequate compensation for repair work. Mr Collins has been fighting on the other residents’ behalf, raising this issue successfully in the media, but has received zero response or support from the VBA or CSV. This lack of assistance from the VBA and CSV has caused a great deal of stress and anxiety for the building’s tenants, especially the many elderly who live there. I ask the minister: considering the monumental failings of the VBA, will the minister launch an immediate investigation into the VBA and the CSV through the form of either a royal commission or an independent judicial inquiry; and if not, could she please let me and Mr Collins know why not?