Leader of the Opposition

LIA FINOCCHIARO MLA
​
MEDIA RELEASE
17th April 2020

Knee-jerk changes hurt tradies and homeowners doing the right thing
​The latest changes to the Home Improvement Scheme are confusing and surprising for the tradespeople and homeowners wishing to take advantage of it. They continue to show the haphazard nature of the Gunner Government’s decision making, Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro said today.
“Yesterday’s snap announcement from the Labor Government to quadruple the timeframe for tradies to complete works under the scheme to 12 months will come as a shock to many tradies who made the difficult decision to stop quoting jobs to homeowners because they were not able to deliver within the original 3 month timeframe,” Mrs Finocchiaro said.
“Tradies are also concerned that material costs will change, if the work is going to be spread over 12 months instead of the 3 month timeframe.
“They now have no real opportunity to submit quotes and keep the pipeline of work going for 12 months, which is what the Government says is the point of the extension to the scheme. Many tradies haven’t even been able to register for the work yet.
“On the other side, homeowners will now be scrambling to get an application in by the end of today, or miss out altogether.
“The Country Liberal Party created the first Tradie Scheme, we also laid the way forward for this scheme announcing Greener Safer Homes as a stimulus. We certainly agree with the benefits of a good Tradie Scheme, but not this adhoc decision making.
“The Gunner Government sure does like to surprise Territorians at the moment with snap decisions and short timeframes. Surely an approach of open communication is preferred.
“Let’s hope they have another think about the best way to extend the scheme to benefit businesses and homeowners. Third time lucky.
“When the Gunner Government has the Federal Government telling it what to do, things run smoothly. As soon as the Territory Government is left to make its own decisions, we have chaos. We’ve seen it with mixed messages on schools and the snap decision on solar tariffs and fireworks,” 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