Labor has failed in its first attempt at rental reform, backflipping on the secret rent bidding ban and abandoning the measure.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said that it was clear that Labor hadn’t done the work in developing legislation to ban secret rent bidding.
“The Government rushed the process, did not properly consult and ignored warnings,” Mr Speakman said.
“It’s day 74 and the broken promises are mounting. They’re backflipping on election promises. They promised to ban secret rental bidding and have now backflipped. They promised to roll over Active Kids and are now looking to cancel it. They promised that extra wage increases would cost nothing and be offset with productivity gains but it’s now going to cost $618 million per annum. They promised no privatisation but they’re now looking to privatise public land.”
Shadow Fair Trading Minister Tim James said the government should have never attempted to introduce such under prepared policy.
“Labor has let down renters. During a rental affordability crisis we need a government that understands the issues facing the people of NSW instead of making life harder.”
“If Labor did the homework, and listened to the community and experts earlier, it wouldn’t be forced into a backflip on this poorly conceived idea that everyone had said would inflate rents,” said Mr James.
“The government needs to explain why they ignored repeated warnings that this policy will create a rental auction that fuels rent increases, putting a home further out of reach for millions of NSW renters.”
“This flawed process has placed uncertainty and anxiety on renters and the property industry.”
Mr Speakman said the people of NSW deserve better from their government.