Residential Parks (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 13 November 2018.)

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (15:51): I rise today to indicate that Labor is generally supportive of the bill, but we have filed amendments, after consultation, which we believe will help improve the bill and provide additional protections for residents. The bill, largely as it was introduced by the Liberal Party, was introduced by the Labor government on 28 September 2017 and reached the Legislative Council on 1 November 2017. Unfortunately, time ran out before the election for the bill to pass this council.

The bill has had an extensive history of consultation with the community, including a discussion paper, several community forums and lengthy consultation with residential park owners and Consumer and Business Services. The bill sought to find some balances between the interests of park owners and residents, but ultimately the extra protections afforded to residents meant that the park owners were not completely satisfied with the bill, which often happens to be the way when there are competing groups with sometimes competing interests.

The bill is now back before us and there are a number of differences between the Labor bill and the bill the Attorney-General has introduced. I am advised, in particular, that clause 7, parts of clause 12, clause 13, parts of clause 18 and parts of clause 25 insert new sections that did not appear in the previous Labor bill or the amendments that were filed in the Legislative Council. As a result, as an opposition we have conducted further consultation with the sector and we have filed amendments to help the Liberal government improve the bill and provide additional protections for residents.

I will briefly go through the amendments and their intended effect for the benefit of those who will be considering the committee stage of this in the coming days or weeks. Our first amendment inserts a definition of 'market value'. The definition appears on the ATO website and has been borrowed from the International Valuation Standards Council. This amendment is contingent on the success of amendment No. 7 [Maher-1]. It has come about after consultation with the Residential Parks Residents Association to address concerns in examples such as where a resident dies and their dwelling is put up for sale, to protect that estate from the potential of unscrupulous park owners taking advantage of families not knowing the true value of that residential site.

Amendments Nos 2, 3 and 4 clarify that resident committees must be elected by residents and not simply appointed by a park owner. The amendments also outline the term of appointment for a residents' committee, that is, one year, and there are also provisions for election of the function and procedures that may be made via regulation. The amendments came about as a result of consultation because there were concerns that, unless there was the provision for the committee to be elected by residents, it could be out of the residents' actual control.

Amendment No. 5 requires that a template agreement must be published on a website determined by the minister, and is again as a result of further consultation. Amendment No. 6 requires that a park owner must provide residents with details of how much the resident is being charged for the supply of electricity and how that amount was arrived at.

Amendment No. 7, as I said, is consequential on amendment No. 1. Amendment No. 8 introduces a provision that, where a park owner terminates a residential tenancy agreement due to change of use or redevelopment, the replacement residential park tenancy agreement offered must constitute a reasonable offer. This is to prevent the potential for unscrupulous park owners using this clause to remove residents.

Amendments Nos 9 and 10 require the commissioner for consumer affairs to keep a register for all residential parks, and outline what information must be kept on that register. Amendment No. 11 requires that a residents' committee is consulted on a safety evacuation plan for a park. Amendments Nos 12, 13 and 14 are consequential on the previous amendment.

Amendment No. 15 specifies that the safety evacuation plan must outline what equipment the park has installed as an emergency warning system. These amendments, again, were as a result of consultation which advised that it was felt that some parks do not have adequate emergency warning systems.

Mr President, with those words and outlining the amendments that Labor has filed sometime ago, I commend the bill to the chamber.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. T.J. Stephens.