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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-12-03 Daily Xml
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ITINERANT TRADERS

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:18): Itinerant tradespeople who target the elderly and disadvantaged are a menace in South Australia. Their unsolicited work is usually overpriced—

The Hon. R.I. Lucas: Did you seek leave?

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: I seek leave.

The PRESIDENT: Leave is granted.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: It is the excitement of your questions that has me dazzled.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: You have been here for four years, so you should know how to do it by now.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: You sit over there looking like a wing nut; it is pretty easy to get distracted. Itinerant tradespeople who target the elderly and disadvantaged are a menace in South Australia. Their unsolicited work is usually overpriced.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Wortley might want to start again.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Yes, Mr President.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: I have a minister who has an answer and who needs a question. Please, let me ask the question.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: On a point of order, are we there yet?

The PRESIDENT: Question time is going very fast and, if there is no order in the chamber, no-one else will get any questions in. I think the Hon. Mr Lucas is coming up soon.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Consumer Affairs a question about itinerant traders.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Itinerant tradespeople who target the elderly or the disadvantaged are a menace in South Australia. Their unsolicited work is usually overpriced and of very poor quality. Taking money or performing work in this way is prohibited under the door-to-door trading provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1987. My question to the minister is: will she remind members about the fraudulent activities of itinerant traders and advise the council about recent approaches made to elderly residents in the Edwardstown area?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (15:21): I thank the honourable member for his most important and timely question. I am sure he is aware that there have been fairly recent reports of groups of itinerant workers back out again, trying to take advantage of vulnerable consumers.

As members would know, there are protections for consumers under the Fair Trading Act in regard to door-to-door selling. These protections are in place to guard particularly the most vulnerable in our community from high-pressure sales techniques. These consumers can be placed under a lot of pressure by those who are very skilled and well versed in taking advantage of people.

A contract to which the door-to-door trading provisions of the Fair Trading Act applies must allow for a 10-day cooling off period, with the consumer being notified of this in writing, and the trader cannot accept any money until after the end of that 10-day cooling off period. Most commonly, the 10-day cooling off period is flouted by many of these itinerant traders offering to do building work, such as roof repairs and painting. The most recent example reported to me involved an elderly resident in Edwardstown who was approached by three men offering to do roof and wall repairs. I am advised that these men have also been sighted in regional areas, such as Murray Bridge. The latest report is that they were driving a late model grey Toyota ute.

The three men approach consumers and tell them that their house needs urgent repairs. The repairs, if they are done at all, are generally substandard, with a token effort made. I believe that these men have been known to follow consumers to their houses to collect money or drive consumers to the bank to make a withdrawal. So, we can see that it is very heavy-handed.

There are many variations of the con that these itinerants employ to rip off consumers. One that is brought to the Office of Consumer and Business Affairs' attention from time to time is what I call the 'leftover bitumen scam'. Typically, a property owner who has a long dirt driveway is approached by a smooth-talking front man posing as a council worker or a road worker contractor, saying that there is some leftover bitumen from a nearby job and asking if the owner would like their driveway paved for a bargain price. The usual high-pressure sales tactics are applied, and the consumer's money is taken there and then, or at least on the same day. The driveway may even look okay for a while but the shoddy job soon shows through and the consumer is left not only out of pocket but often with a dangerous and unsightly driveway.

The last time this was reported was back in January. We give regular warnings about this problem. Consumers need to be aware that they can cool off on these door-to-door contracts if the contract is over $50. The contract needs to be in writing. I urge members to make sure they educate the South Australian public through their links with the community and, if they see or are aware of these traders operating in their local area, to please contact the Office of Consumer Affairs straightaway so that we can put out a warning bulletin.

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