Lid posted:

Apartment owners who live in blocks with flammable cladding could witness a significant drop in property prices, NSW Labor has warned.

Opposition Better Regulation spokeswoman Yasmin Catley raised concerns homeowners could be affected by a similar house price collapse to Britain, where a resident of a complex clad in panels like those on London's Grenfell Tower recently had her £475,000 ($867,000) home valued at £50,000 ($91,000).

Ms Catley said affected homeowners in NSW could also face huge costs to replace combustible cladding.

“Besides a threat to life and property, the cladding debacle overseen by [the Berejiklian] government stands to have a massive financial impact on property owners.

“Losing up to 90 per cent of the value of a property would spell financial doom for homeowners and investors alike.

She said government figures showed 412 buildings had been identified as high priority because they had cladding that could increase fire risks.

Of those, 170 were residential and 53 were high-rise buildings.

Ms Catley's concerns coincided with changes to home building laws, which the government announced on Sunday, to give residents longer to have unsafe cladding rectified by their builder.

Better Regulation Minister Matt Kean said the change to regulations would mean unsafe external wall cladding that caused or posed a fire safety risk would be classified as a major defect.

“This means anyone who buys a unit or townhouse with unsafe external cladding has the right to get repairs done by the responsible builder for up to six years after the building is completed,” Mr Kean said.

Mr Kean said the protection was the most recent in a series of ongoing reforms about the use of cladding across the state.

NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rose Webb last month called for public submissions about whether a building product use ban was warranted on certain types of external cladding.

“Residents who are concerned about major defects in their building should contact the builder or developer, in the first instance,” Mr Kean said.

Doctor Spaceman posted:

JBP posted:

Lmao what is this

DancingShade posted:

I can't wait for a rise in articles about "vanishing in the night" phoenix builders & developers.

Lid posted:

Apartment owners who live in blocks with flammable cladding could witness a significant drop in property prices, NSW Labor has warned.

Opposition Better Regulation spokeswoman Yasmin Catley raised concerns homeowners could be affected by a similar house price collapse to Britain, where a resident of a complex clad in panels like those on London's Grenfell Tower recently had her £475,000 ($867,000) home valued at £50,000 ($91,000).

Ms Catley said affected homeowners in NSW could also face huge costs to replace combustible cladding.

“Besides a threat to life and property, the cladding debacle overseen by [the Berejiklian] government stands to have a massive financial impact on property owners.

“Losing up to 90 per cent of the value of a property would spell financial doom for homeowners and investors alike.

She said government figures showed 412 buildings had been identified as high priority because they had cladding that could increase fire risks.

Of those, 170 were residential and 53 were high-rise buildings.

Ms Catley's concerns coincided with changes to home building laws, which the government announced on Sunday, to give residents longer to have unsafe cladding rectified by their builder.

Better Regulation Minister Matt Kean said the change to regulations would mean unsafe external wall cladding that caused or posed a fire safety risk would be classified as a major defect.

“This means anyone who buys a unit or townhouse with unsafe external cladding has the right to get repairs done by the responsible builder for up to six years after the building is completed,” Mr Kean said.

Mr Kean said the protection was the most recent in a series of ongoing reforms about the use of cladding across the state.

NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rose Webb last month called for public submissions about whether a building product use ban was warranted on certain types of external cladding.

“Residents who are concerned about major defects in their building should contact the builder or developer, in the first instance,” Mr Kean said.

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

hiddenmovement posted:

I think he's implying that the banks failure will allow rampant leftism to ruin the country? Idk I never get beyond the headlines with him

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

Don Dongington posted:

The Murdoch empire is certainly on a role as far as unintentionally union friendly headlines go.

Maybe Rupert dead and his kids are trashing the place.

Krabboss posted:

Australians are really dumb lol

Ghost Leviathan posted:

It's like Howard put some kind of Voldemort-esque curse on the position.

quote:

Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce wants an overhaul to the hiring regulations at Parliament House, so politicians can work alongside their partners.
Speaking with ABC's National Wrap after the birth of his son Sebastian last week, Mr Joyce has promised to do everything he can to be a good father, and believes that starts with changing the culture of politics.
"Canberra is a weird place," he said.
"It's like a big old boarding school up on a hill in the middle of Canberra... and we should be allowing partners as much as possible to be there as well. Otherwise you have this dysfunctional dichotomy where you have one life in Canberra, another life at home...[and] after a decade it just does not work and things fall apart. I don't want that to happen again."
Mr Joyce split from his wife Natalie last year and is now in a relationship with his former media adviser Vikki Campion, who gave birth to Sebastian a week ago.
The former deputy prime minister thinks marriages can be saved if the employment rules at Parliament House are changed.

Working alongside your partner or sibling is common practice in some family businesses, but in politics it is not allowed.
The Members of Parliament Staff Act states Senators and MPs cannot hire their partner, children, parent or sibling.
"This is insane that a partner who probably knows more about your office than anyone else can't work in your office," he said.
"If they are qualified to do the job, if they have the qualifications, then why not allow them to do it?"
However, he said he does not believe his ex-wife would have wanted to work with him, nor would Ms Campion want to come back to his office.
"I don't think Vikki would want to work for me to be quite frank... but it is insane to think that if she did want to work for me, she couldn't."
Mr Joyce dismissed suggestions that such changes would result in a conflict of interest.
"No I don't think it's a conflict of interest. So often in this game people expect you to turn up as a couple. They expect you to turn up as family."

Mr Joyce said he was supposed to be taking time off work following the birth of Sebastian, but he's still been speaking to the media.
"I can't help myself," he said.
Mr Joyce said he took Ms Campion and Sebastian to a National Park and they also attended a local footy match over the weekend.
"We are just enjoying our own company and just trying to be a family and hang around the dinner table which I really enjoy," he said.
"I know it is peculiar circumstances... but I'm going to try the very best job I possibly can and make sure that Seb has the very best dad he can possibly get."
Mr Joyce has four daughters with his former wife Natalie Joyce.

Barnaby Joyce posted:

"I can't help myself," he said. 

bandaid.friend posted:

Other pollies manage to avoid cheating on their spouses, Barnaby

Kommando posted:

How the gently caress is it still 50/50 2PP