5 years ago
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S FLAMMABLE CLADDING AUDIT MESS
BRENDAN O’CONNOR MP
Minister Karen Andrews has serious questions to answer regarding the dangerous use of flammable cladding.
Following obfuscation from her Department in Senate Estimates, Australians have a right to know, for their own safety, the answers to the following pertinent questions:
Following obfuscation from her Department in Senate Estimates, Australians have a right to know, for their own safety, the answers to the following pertinent questions:
- How many other Government-owned and leased buildings contain flammable cladding?
- How many of the 190 agencies, if any, have completed their audit?
- What departments other than Defence are responsible for the 11 buildings that contain flammable cladding and require rectification identified so far?
- Has rectification commenced on all identified properties?
- Do the occupants of the identified buildings know their dwellings are wrapped in flammable cladding?
- Why did the Industry Department direct at least one agency to narrow the scope of their audit following my correspondence
- How many leased building will be audited?
- When will this audit commence/finalise?
And finally, do the Minister and the Prime Minister still believe this is solely an issue for the States and Territories?
It is time this government took responsibility and started being transparent with the Australian public.
More than two years since the Commonwealth audit of all Federal Government buildings began, there is no clear detail about the status of the audit.
Despite being responsible for coordinating the audit, the Department could not determine what agencies out of 190, if any, had completed the audit.
Leaked documents reveal that following correspondence from my office, the Department directed Defence, with approximately 30,000 properties, to focus on Commonwealth owned buildings. As a result, potentially an unknown number of Commonwealth leased buildings may not yet have been audited.
There is a serious risk that many more buildings, in addition to the 11 already confirmed, could be wrapped in flammable cladding.
When Minister Karen Andrews returns to Australia, having missed the scrutiny of Senate Estimates to travel to the US, she must be upfront with the Australian public.
This week is was revealed on Nine News that at least 11 Commonwealth buildings, including five Defence buildings, contain flammable cladding, and more than 200 Defence buildings require further inspection.
The Morrison Government has always been in denial about the role it needs to play regarding the public safety issue of construction quality and flammable cladding – whether it is on fraudulent phoenix activity, insurance regulation, importation of dangerous cladding, and now the safety of Defence staff.
Each day the Morrison Government fails to take leadership and respond to the building industry crisis, businesses are closing down, the safety and lives of Australians are put at risk.
Australians deserve to feel safe – especially in their own homes and workplaces.