The CFMEU ACT is calling on the Territory Government to urgently introduce its long-mooted property developer licensing scheme, in light of ASIC disqualifying Canberra developer Paul Hamilton for two years for his involvement in five failed companies.
The ACT Government signalled its intention to introduce a developer licensing scheme for several years, but the laws are still yet to come into effect.
CFMEU ACT Secretary Zach Smith said the absence of developer licensing in Canberra continued to leave the community exposed to the unethical conduct of shonky developers.
“It’s a good thing that ASIC has taken this action, but it should never have taken this long to protect Canberrans from people with track records as bad as this,”
“This is someone who was a director of five companies that collapsed in less than two years. If he was required to pass a fit and proper person test to get a license to operate in Canberra, I suspect he would have been knocked back pretty quickly.
“People like this are currently allowed to operate with impunity in the ACT and it’s only once they’ve created chaos that the regulator is able to do anything.
“Shonky and unethical developers simply shouldn’t be allowed to do business in Canberra. So many Canberran lives have been damaged by the unconscionable conduct of developers.
“There are plenty of developers that do the right thing, there’s no need for Canberra to be giving the green light to entities with poor histories of behaviour.
“We know from polling that Canberrans are overwhelmingly in favour of the government moving on this now. The Minister has been promising and hesitating for years, it’s time to pull the trigger before more people get hurt.”
