Leader of the Opposition

LIA FINOCCHIARO MLA
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MEDIA RELEASE
15th May 2020

Gunner Government should triple staff to speed up Home Improvement Scheme approvals
​As tradespeople suffer with a loss of work and homeowners become increasingly frustrated with delays, the Country Liberal Party Opposition is calling on the Gunner Government to triple the number of current staff dedicated to approving works under the Home Improvement Scheme, Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro said today.
 “Figures last week showing that just over 500 of the 20,000 applications for works had been approved, including only 40 of 2400 in Alice Springs is completely unacceptable,” Mrs Finocchiaro said.
 “Every day I’m hearing from tradies whose work has dried up because jobs were withdrawn and submitted for approval under the Scheme and are now held up. I just don’t think the Chief Minister understands the problem he has created.
 “We need an immediate tripling of government staff dedicated to processing approvals. The Gunner Government made this mess and it now must clean it up.
 “Waiting until September or October will be too long for many tradies to wait. Their businesses may have to shut down before then.
 “The Home Improvement Scheme is an excellent concept. The CLP led the way on the idea several months ago. However, the current design and implementation is flawed and is causing serious damage.
“I implore the Chief Minister to triple the number of staff working on the Scheme and work faster to process approvals,” Mrs Finocchiaro concluded.
​ENDS 

"Only together can we build a better Territory for you and your family.”

- LIA FINOCCHIARO MLA, Leader of the Country Liberal Party and member for Spillett