Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

Labor of course supports action on dodgy builders and improvements to building safety and quality. A number of contributions so far have referenced the committee process. It ran over two parliaments, it was led and driven by Labor senators, it took 164 submissions, it had 10 hearings all over the country and it was a very important piece of policy work achieved by the Senate that illuminated the very complex set of changes that needed to take place to bring accountability to this sector.

Unfortunately, as Senator Faruqi will know, in our home state of New South Wales there are still very substantial problems. There are a range of current issues where investors and owners associated with very substantial infrastructure projects, particularly the towers, have been left in a very uncertain situation, and this remains a very serious and urgent policy problem for governments, state and federal, to tackle.

Our concern with these Greens amendments is that the provisions to add new, specific directors' duties in relation to building materials seem unlikely to be effective in tackling this problem. As the Shergold and Weir report points out and as the Senate inquiry pointed out, it is a much more complex problem than this. Directors are in fact already required to act in good faith, they can already be found personally liable for breaches of the law in a range of circumstances and it's our view that these new specific provisions around building materials are not what will make directors behave any better. As the contributions to the Senate inquiry on this legislation made clear, what is most needed is focused regulatory activity by ASIC, properly resourced to do its task.

So we won't be supporting the amendments, but it remains the case that we consider this a priority and we are happy to work closely with the Greens or any other interested parties in this place to progress legislation that will make Australian buildings safer, more fireproof and simply better.

The CHAIR: The question is that Greens amendments (1) and (2) on sheet 8840, as moved by Senator Faruqi, be agreed to.