Firefighters accuse Government of pushing flammable cladding issue 'out of mind, out of sight'

Posted January 22, 2018 09:49:56

Firefighters are accusing the Federal Government of dropping the ball on public safety in the building industry, after leaving responsibility for flammable cladding up in the air.

Key points:

  • Firefighters Union says government changes have allowed delay in addressing issue
  • Firefighters worry issue will be forgotten about until another deadly fire occurs
  • Craig Laundy says he will continue to look at the use of cladding

Former assistant industry minister Craig Laundy had been looking into the use of the material blamed for London's Grenfell Tower blaze, but he was promoted in the Cabinet reshuffle last year.

The national secretary of the United Firefighters Union, Peter Marshall, said he has not known exactly who in the Government was in charge of the issue since then.

He said he was worried that the uncertainty would lead to delays.

"With a fire, every minute counts. As we speak we could be having another one of these type of fires," Mr Marshall said.

"Resulting in a significant challenge to the fire service to minimise damage to the property, which is practically impossible with this cladding, but most importantly to try and prevent loss of life.

"Any delay is too long."

Mr Marshall was worried the issue could remain "out of sight, out of mind" until there was another catastrophic fire.

He said a national approach to regulation was needed.

"Because otherwise every state's going to be doing something different, which is just a ludicrous proposition," he said.

"We're talking about a very real potential for loss of life here."

'Public safety is not a priority'

Mr Laundy's office has now confirmed he will continue to look at cladding, on top of his new responsibilities as Small Business Minister.

But Labor's industry spokesman, Kim Carr, said that was an awkward solution and did not properly cover Mr Laundy's former industry responsibilities.

"We don't have an industry minister now and we don't have a science minister now and it's clear that we don't have a minister that's responsible for public safety in the building industry," he said.

"It sends the message that this Government doesn't care about the issue.

"It wants to continue the policy of turning a blind eye. Public safety is not a priority."

In a statement, Mr Laundy's office pointed to steps already being taken at the state and territory level to crack down on the use of the flammable panels in high-rise buildings.

It also pointed to a new pilot program tracking the movement of the material in New South Wales and amended legislation in Queensland.

"Significant work has been undertaken by jurisdictions to address issues relating to building compliance and enforcement," the statement said.

"Including the work of the cladding audits and reviews that are underway across the states and territories."

The Federal Government has also been awaiting a report on compliance issues and will meet with the states again in April.

Topics: fires, building-and-construction, federal-government, australia

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