Wednesday, 7 February 2024

Flood recovery

Jade BENHAM (Mildura) (19:06): (503) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Emergency Services, and the action I seek is for Emergency Recovery Victoria to finish the final scope of works as outlined and completed to standard for Mr Kim Gathercole, who has had communications with the department but still finds his inundated property unlivable.

Let me give you some background. After the 2022 floods Mr Gathercole, like many others, faced the daunting task of rebuilding his entire life. A scope of works was diligently outlined in collaboration with Make It Safe, a reputable agency entrusted with the responsibility of restoring normalcy to those affected by the floods. Unfortunately the reality on the ground for Mr Gathercole paints a very, very different picture. Make It Safe is now exerting undue pressure on him to sign off on incomplete and substandard works and unsafe works. The discrepancies are glaring. There are walls out by 20 millimetres. Anyone that is a tradie knows 20 millimetres is a lot. Anything that is not millimetre perfect, in my opinion, is not okay. There is an electrical box that has been exposed to the elements, and a final inspection is nowhere in sight. They wanted to sign it off. However, when rains came again a few weeks ago, they left the power box unsafe, inundated and with no power to the house. Clearly it is not ready for final inspection. With the location, I am not an electrician, so I will not comment on that.

The gravity of the situation is exacerbated, though, by the absence of local trades. These tradies that are doing the job are coming from out of town with no skin in the game and no care factor, and it is leading to huge cost blowouts. We see this all the time. There are logistical challenges as well, and they are therefore putting profit before safety and accountability. Mr Gathercole did have it inspected, and the email that he received back was following a site visit to visually check the existing distribution switchboard. This is not the half-plastered houses that are out by 20 millimetres. There were seven clauses of the Australian standard AS/NZS 3000:2018 Amd 2 Electrical Installations (Wiring Rules) as to why in the expert’s opinion the switchboard should be replaced in accordance with the scope of works. There are photos, there is documentation, there is a long line of emails and Mr Gathercole is having a hard time getting a resolution to this, which should be pretty straightforward. I ask the minister to action this asap.