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Steven Cross
Government revised national licensing laws will not be reviewed by the industry before they go to the state treasurers for approval, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has revealed.
After the conclusion of the information sessions national tour, COAG will go behind closed doors to deal with the issues raised over national licensing, a move that has angered many industry stakeholders.
CEO of the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW) Tim McKibbin slammed the decision, claiming agents can’t trust the government.
“We’re just supposed to trust the COAG with getting it right on their second go, even though the first RIS [regulatory impact statement] was full of flaws?”
The news comes as 84.8 per cent of respondents to the latest Real Estate Business strawpoll felt the government wasn’t listening to the industry’s concerns.
Of the 474 voters, only 39 (8.2 per cent) felt that the industry was being heard, while 6.5 per cent weren’t sure.
COAG said that the information sessions were productive and they will be looking at submissions made by agents over the coming weeks.
“There was a good show of interested people representing real estate professionals and training providers who took the opportunity to express a range of views,” said a COAG spokesperson.
“We noted the REIA’s interest in continuing professional development, qualification levels and commercial transactions.
“The level of engagement so far has been encouraging and we are listening carefully to all responses.”
Comments left on previous Real Estate Business stories showed the genuine anger towards the government’s attitude.
“So much for consultation. I must have been wrong, the bureaucrats are obviously the experts not those that are actually in the industry,” one commentator on Real Estate Business’ website, Jamie Hammond, said.
“Yet another example of the inmates being in charge of the asylum.”
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