Podcasts about Fair trading

NSW tenancy laws are getting their biggest overhaul in years, and every landlord, investor, and tenant needs to be prepared. Recorded live from NOVAC HQ, property experts Thomas Sims and Jonathan Vescio break down the crucial changes taking effect from May 19th that will fundamentally reshape rental relationships across the state.The days of "no grounds" terminations are over. Landlords must now provide valid reasons with supporting documentation when ending tenancies, with serious penalties for non-genuine terminations. For property investors, this means carefully documenting renovation plans or sales intentions before giving notice. Even more surprising—if you terminate a tenancy to sell but can't find a buyer, you'll need Fair Trading approval before relisting the property for rent.Notice periods are extending significantly, with 90 days required for leases longer than six months. Meanwhile, the pet ownership landscape is transforming completely. Landlords can no longer advertise "no pets" properties and must respond to pet applications within 21 days or face automatic approval. For investors, this necessitates careful consideration of flooring types and potential wear factors when purchasing new properties.These changes reflect a deliberate shift toward tenant protection after decades of legislation that primarily safeguarded landlord interests. As Thomas and Jonathan explain, understanding these new requirements is essential whether you're managing properties yourself or working with an agent. Property managers will shoulder additional responsibilities, especially with new documentation requirements for bond releases starting July 1st.Drawing from their experience in property management under Northern Beaches expert Tina Stacy, Thomas and Jonathan provide practical insights into navigating these changes successfully. Whether you're concerned about your rights as a tenant or protecting your investment property, this episode delivers the essential information you need before these laws take effect.Have questions about how these changes affect your specific situation? Reach out to Thomas or Jonathan directly—they're always happy to help navigate the evolving rental landscape.

CEO of Consumer NZ, Jon Duffy joins Kathryn to detail some wins the organisation has had with the Commerce Commission over some issues it's raised

The Commerce Commission says it'll take KiwiRail to court if it doesn't compensate ferry customers. The rail provider's agreed to pay those disrupted in three Interislander cancellations in early 2023. KiwiRail had previously treated delays and cancellations from mechanical faults as out of their control, which the Commerce Commission argued misled customers. The Commission's Vanessa Horne told Mike Hosking KiwiRail should've taken action on its own accord. She says good businesses get ahead of the game to ensure customers are cared for. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week we said that Strata Community Association NSW  - the states' strata managers' professional body - was in disarray.  Objecting to that negative characterisation, NSW President Robert Anderson agreed to come on to the podcast and answer a few questions.We had no shortage of those. For instance, we asked what the changes at SCA-NSW are. Has SCA-NSW been getting it wrong? Is there a new philosophy or culture, following changes on the SCA-NSW board?Are the changes in the standard agency agreement a recognition that there was something wrong with the previous much maligned version or is it just to comply with changes in legislation?What does SCA-NSW have to do to regain owners' trust? What about training for committee members? Who should do it: SCA, the Owners Corporation Network (OCN) or Fair Trading?And finally, will the SCA continue to claim that it represents owners? It's a slightly longer than usual session and the sound quality is OK but, thanks to the interview being conducted over Zoom, not up to our usual tip-top standards.Enjoy.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

The long-awaited report into what has become known as the Netstrata Scandal came out last week – too late for the podcast – so we bring it to you in all its glory this week.Fair Trading NSW have, unusually for them, hopped in with a fairly strident comment and Netstrata has responded with vehement denials of wrong-doing and assurances that anything than needed fixing has been fixed.You can find our report on the McGrathNicol findings HERE, the McGrathNicol report HERE,  Fair Trading's response HERE,  and the Netstrata reaction HERE. So what's the truth?  We have had the dubious pleasure of owning in a strata scheme managed by Netstrata and seeing the way they work at close hand.What are they really like?  Listen to this week's Flat Chat Wrap to find out.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

Bed, Bath & Beyond has been fined $230,000 for selling more than 27,000 products without proper labelling or instructions. The company sold 3700 sets of children's pyjamas without fire-hazard labels - and more than 23,000 hot water bottles without safe usage instructions. The General Manager accepts responsibility, but notes no products were found to have physical faults. The Commerce Commission's Vanessa Horne says it takes safety issues seriously - especially on products for children. "There's a label requirement, mainly for parents, so that they know that that particular pair of pyjamas might be more flammable than another." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Originally aired: 12/14/2023Odometer fraud, also referred to as "busting miles" (United States) or "clocking" (UK, Ireland and Canada), is the illegal practice of rolling back odometers to make it appear that vehicles have lower mileage than they actually do. Odometer fraud occurs when the seller of a vehicle falsely represents the actual mileage of a vehicle to the buyer. According to the Office of Odometer Fraud Investigation at the US Department of Transportation, odometer fraud is a serious crime and important consumer fraud issue. In the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) 2002 odometer fraud study, the NHTSA determined that 450,000 vehicles were sold each year with false odometer readings, resulting in a cost of over $1 billion annually to car buyers in the US. In the UK, the Office of Fair Trading estimates the annual cost at £500m.Email the show: auto@mpbonline.orgRecalls: Check for Recalls: Vehicle, Car Seat, Tire, Equipment | NHTSANews: It Just Got Harder For Car Dealers To Scam You - New FTC regulations, called the Combating Auto Retail Scams Rule, are supposed to make life easier for car buyersAuto Casey Car Reviews: Short video: 2023 Ford F150 Raptor R | Short Take – YouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the scandals around Netstrata - and the harsh scrutiny all strata managers have faced as a consequence - to the departure of Building Commissioner David Chandler, 2024 was a huge year in strata.We look at those events as well as the roller-coaster rides for apartment owner clients of two now notorious strata managers who have found it just too easy to convince NCAT members to do exactly what they want, rather than what apartment owners need.In fact, we ask the question, is the NCAT tribunal so ill-equipped to deal with strata issues that it is actively undermining Fair Trading's efforts to improve public confidence in apartment living. And finally, we highlight a new build-to-rent development in the heart of Sydney which will allow long leases and pets, but remove toxic strata committees, rampant rent increases and the threat of Airbnb displacing residential renters.Ooops! In the podcast we said we were going to mention two ambushes in the Four Corners TV episode that brought Netstrata to book.  We talked about Stephen Brell but forgot to mention former Strata Commissioner John Minns.  However, we covered him in detail last week, so you're not really missing out. ____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

This week we say farewell to former Strata Commissioner John Minns who has decided to quit, despite a months-long inquiry into allegations of conflict of interest finding nothing untoward.Jimmy had a long chat with him (off air) which he relates in the podcast, covering his frustrations during his tenure and his fears for the future – not least who will take over his role.The we turn our sights on NCAT – the NSW Tribunal which seems to be doing more to undermine efforts to build confidence in strata than all the dodgy developers and suspect strata managers combined.Can we trust a body that has untrained Members making decisions about our lives when many of them clearly don't know or care about strata? Separate to the point of being in opposition to Fair Trading, the whole Tribunal system is clogged with regurgitated cases that could and should have been dealt with at the first time of asking. Justice delayed is justice denied – and that applies in strata too.And finally it's time to inject some pre-festive cheer with a story of owners who would rather share their new apartment block with low-income tenants, than live in an ivory tower.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

When strippers arrive at work and don't know how much money they're taking home at the end of the shift. Their employer might decide to take a higher percentage of their wages that week, or they could've been fined for something inconsequential – with no way of rebutting. They can't unionise, negotiate better contract terms, or complain to the likes of WorkSafe or the Commerce Commission. Fired Up Stilettos is an organisation and social movement working to improve the lives of strippers and sex workers in Aotearoa. Today on The Front Page, one of the group's organisers Margot Embargot joins us to discuss the deception, discrimination, and stigma these workers face daily. Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Chelsea DanielsSound Engineer/Producer: Richard MartinProducer: Ethan SillsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Revagliatte sits with John Paul Fa, Gibraltar's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) CEO, to discuss the OFT's strategies for making business easier, the implications of cross-border trade on Gibraltar's economy, and the role of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence in regulatory practices. Since 2021, the Gibraltar Business Podcast by the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses has been exploring the issues driving business on the Rock. Host David Revagliatte interviews expert guests, including local business owners, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders. The podcast is sponsored by Gibraltar International Bank and produced in collaboration with Motion Gibraltar and Barton Solutions.

A passionate Ray Hadley has called on disgruntled customers of Cruise Control Australia Parking to take their frustrations to Fair Trading. This follows Friday's shocking story covered on 2GB Mornings, where up to 40 returning cruise ship passengers found their cars temporarily missing after leaving them with Cruise Control Australia Parking.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jetstar is headed to court over claims it misled customers about their rights to compensation for delayed or cancelled flights. The Commerce Commission is filing charges against the budget airline under the Fair Trading Act. It alleges Jetstar's communications likely discouraged customers from seeking compensation for flight disruptions that were within the airline's control and the Commerce Commission said that Jetstar probably denied legitimate claims. Commerce Commission General Manager Competition, Fair Trading, and Credit, Vanessa Horne spoke to Lisa Owen.

In the latest instalment of Cleary Gottlieb's Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy is joined by a panel featuring Jackie Holland, Cleary partner and former Senior Director of the UK Office of Fair Trading; Ricardo Zimbrón, former Director of Mergers at the Competition & Markets Authority and currently a partner at Cleary; Alexander Baker, CEO, Fingleton; and John Gray, Partner, FGS Global, to discuss the implications of the new Labour Government for competition enforcement and practice in the UK. Their conversation covers an array of topics, including the new government's growth agenda, the role of politics in antitrust enforcement, merger control, consumer protection, digital regulation, and much more.

So the NSW Fair Trading Minister has revealed his law changes in the wake of the Netstrata scandal and they are, as one strata insider put it, like being slapped on the wrist with limp spaghetti.With the news hot off the printer, Jimmy jumped in with both feet to claim this is a pretty poor response to the revelation that apartment owners are being misled and ripped off by some of the people whose job it is to look after them.Admittedly, this was recorded before he got the response from Fair Trading that you can read here. Maybe it will all make more sense once everyone has calmed down but for now Jimmy is ropable, which if nothing else makes the podcast more entertaining.Also in the pod this week, the “wellness” benefits of buying the most expensive home in Australia.And the areas in your state and across Australia where you are least likely to find apartments that are designed with the health of their residents in mind (according to Dr Sarah Foster of RMIT University in Melbourne).That's all in this week's Flat Chat Wrap.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

Rosy Sullivan, Director & Principal at the Australian Colledge of Professionals has been helping agents stay compliant for over 20 years. She reveals:What are the CPD requirements for this current CPD year?There's a new course requirement: ‘Underquoting and Price Misrepresentation' is only conducted by TAFE (90 mins online)Attending training conferences (e.g. AREC) does NOT mean you've met your compliance requirements. You must attend training from a Fair Trading approved CPD Provider such as ACOPWho has to do CPD and when?See you in class!This information is only relevant for real estate agents in NEW SOUTH WALES. 

Karen Stiles, executive director of the Owners Corporation Network (OCN), joins me to share: - how strata owners are being overlooked in today's conversations about the strata industry, - the astonishing lack of consumer protections for those buying apartments, - the owners who ARE willing to pay more for good strata management, and - why Fair Trading needs to step up - including some ideas for how it might do that.

How can integrity be restored in an industry often criticised for its ethical shortcomings? In this episode, we sit down with John Minns, the NSW Strata and Property Services Commissioner, to delve into the measures being taken by the Office of Fair Trading to regulate and improve the real estate sector's reputation. With an industry plagued by issues ranging from underquoting by sales agents to property managers grappling with rental shortages, and strata managers caught in conflicts of interest, John Minns has a formidable task ahead. John shares his motivations for stepping into the commissioner role and the surprises he encounters along the way. He discusses how he balances managing immediate crises with long-term strategic planning and tackles significant resistance from various stakeholders, particularly focusing on the pervasive problem of underquoting. We also explore the potential opportunities he sees in the PropTech space and his updates on the Strata Hub system in New South Wales. The episode covers critical issues such as the licensing loophole allowing new buyer's agents to practice in NSW via Queensland and the potential benefits of a national licensing system. John addresses frustrations and pricing tactics that often leave consumers disillusioned, sharing his vision for a more transparent and ethical real estate industry. Don't miss his candid recounting of property blunders that offer a humorous yet insightful perspective on the challenges within the field. Episode Highlights: 00:00 - Introduction 01:23 - Who is John Minns? 02:29 - What is John's motivation to make a difference as commissioner 04:10 - What surprised John most about the role? 07:12 - How John manages both short-term crises and long-term planning 08:57 - Among the key stakeholders, which group is the biggest resistance? 11:38 - Tackling the issue of underquoting 16:54 - John's strategies for effecting change in a slow moving industry 25:03 - Does John see any real opportunities in the PropTech space? 29:19 - What are the plans for improving the Strata Hub system in New South Wales? 35:23 - What's motivating the government to take action NOW? 38:17 - The issue of new buyer's agents getting licensed in NSW via Queensland 44:51 - Would national licensing be a good thing? 47:50 - John Minns' property dumbo #1 50:45 - Addressing frustrations and pricing tactics in property transactions 55:25 - John Minn's property dumbo #2 About Our Guest: John Minns, a prominent figure in the Australian residential property sector for over 30 years, brings a wealth of experience to his role as Strata and Property Services Commissioner. His career spans diverse areas including residential sales, project marketing, property management, and franchising, alongside leadership in digital innovation and professional development. John is committed to enhancing consumer experience and protection by promoting transparency and accountability within the industry, advocating for innovation-driven opportunities to foster a trusted and empowered sector. Connect with John Minns: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-minns-40386324/ Resources: Visit our website https://www.theelephantintheroom.com.au If you have any questions or would like to be featured on our show, contact us at: The Elephant in the Room Property Podcast questions@theelephantintheroom.com.au Looking for a Sydney Buyers Agent? https://www.gooddeeds.com.au Work with Veronica: https://www.veronicamorgan.com.au Looking for a Mortgage Broker? https://www.blusk.au Work with Chris: hello@blusk.au Enjoyed the podcast? Don't miss out on what's yet to come! Hit that subscription button, spread the word and join us for more insightful discussions in real estate. Your journey starts now! Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theelephantintheroom-podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/the-elephant-in-the-room-property-podcast/id1384822719 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Ge1626dgnmK0RyKPcXjP0?si=26cde394fa854765 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the latest instalment of Cleary Gottlieb's Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy is joined by Sir John Vickers, Warden of Oxford University's All Souls College and a former head of the Office of Fair Trading, the predecessor to the Competition & Markets Authority. Their conversation covers an array of topics, including the relevance of industrial economics, the evolution of UK competition law, the CMA's enforcement priorities post-Brexit, consumer protection, merger control, judicial review, Big Tech, and much more.

Consumer law is a vital area of legal practice designed to protect buyers of goods and services against unfair and fraudulent practices. This blog post delves into the basics of consumer law, providing consumers with the essential knowledge they need to navigate their transactions confidently. Whether you are buying a car, signing up for a credit card, or disputing a faulty product, understanding your rights and responsibilities under consumer law can empower you to make informed decisions and protect your interests. 1. What is Consumer Law? Consumer law refers to the regulations and statutes that provide a legal framework to ensure the rights of consumers are upheld in the marketplace. This field encompasses a variety of areas including product safety, fair trading, credit and finance, privacy, and false advertising. The primary goal of consumer law is to safeguard consumers from exploitation and to ensure that they have access to accurate information to make informed purchasing decisions. 2. Key Aspects of Consumer Law. a. Consumer Rights. Every consumer has fundamental rights, which include the right to safety, the right to be informed, the right to choose, and the right to be heard. These rights ensure that consumers receive products that are safe to use, are well informed about their purchases, have a variety of options available in the market, and can voice complaints about products or services. b. Product Safety and Liability. Product safety is a cornerstone of consumer protection. Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are obligated to ensure that their products are free from defects that could cause harm to consumers. In cases where a product is found to be unsafe, liability laws ensure that those responsible can be held accountable, offering consumers avenues for compensation. c. Fair Trading. Fair trading laws protect consumers from deceptive and misleading practices. These regulations ensure that businesses conduct their operations honestly and provide clear, accurate information about their products and services. Practices such as false advertising, bait and switch selling, and wrongful pricing are prohibited under these laws. d. Consumer Contracts. Consumer contracts are another critical area covered under consumer law. These contracts must not contain unfair terms, and must be presented in a clear and understandable manner. Consumers have the right to expect that the terms and conditions of any contract they enter into are fair and respect their rights as consumers. e. Credit and Finance. Credit and finance laws protect consumers when they borrow money or purchase goods on credit. These provisions ensure that lenders and credit providers operate transparently and responsibly. Important aspects of these laws include the requirement to clearly disclose interest rates, penalties, and all terms of the credit agreement. f. Privacy Protection. In the digital age, consumer privacy has become increasingly significant. Privacy laws protect personal information collected by businesses. Consumers have the right to know how their information is used and have a right to privacy concerning their personal details. 3. Consumer Protection Agencies. Several agencies and organizations are dedicated to enforcing consumer laws and protecting consumer rights. These include the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the United States, the Competition and Consumer Commission in Australia, or the Consumer Rights Protection Councils found in many countries. These bodies offer resources and support to help consumers understand their rights and seek redress in instances of injustice. 4. How to Resolve Consumer Disputes. When consumer rights are violated, there are several steps that individuals can take to seek resolution. These include: a. Direct Complaints. The first step is often to contact the business directly. Most businesses have a procedure in place for handling consumer complaints and may offer a refund, repair, or replacement. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/support

Odometer fraud, also referred to as "busting miles" (United States) or "clocking" (UK, Ireland and Canada), is the illegal practice of rolling back odometers to make it appear that vehicles have lower mileage than they actually do. Odometer fraud occurs when the seller of a vehicle falsely represents the actual mileage of a vehicle to the buyer. According to the Office of Odometer Fraud Investigation at the US Department of Transportation, odometer fraud is a serious crime and important consumer fraud issue. In the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) 2002 odometer fraud study, the NHTSA determined that 450,000 vehicles were sold each year with false odometer readings, resulting in a cost of over $1 billion annually to car buyers in the US. In the UK, the Office of Fair Trading estimates the annual cost at £500m.Email the show: auto@mpbonline.orgRecalls: Check for Recalls: Vehicle, Car Seat, Tire, Equipment | NHTSANews: It Just Got Harder For Car Dealers To Scam You - New FTC regulations, called the Combating Auto Retail Scams Rule, are supposed to make life easier for car buyersAuto Casey Car Reviews: Short video: 2023 Ford F150 Raptor R | Short Take – YouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

NSW Strata and Property Services Commissioner John Minns joins me to discuss his priorities for the strata sector. We discuss the "number one problem" in strata, reveal precisely who is manipulating the system, why Fair Trading needs increased powers, and more.

We are joined by the Liberal Member for Willoughby in the NSW Legislative Assembly, Tim James MP. Tim is also the Shadow Minister for Fair Trading, Work Health and Safety and Building.   Tim is a husband and father of three and one of the few politicians that has not only spent their life in their community, but also enjoyed a career in the public sector in both law and business.   Tim has a solid grasp on policy, having previously served as the Executive General Manager at the Menzies Research Centre, the think-tank for the Liberal Party. He also gained valuable political experience as an electorate officer with both Joe Hockey MP and former Prime Minister, the Hon. John Howard. He was also the Chief of Staff for the Hon. Anthony Roberts MP.   Having recently returned from London, where he attended the Alliance for Responsible Leadership (ARC) conference, Tim shares his experiences and insights from the event. We also discuss the recent Voice referendum, the response to COVID-19, housing affordability and importantly the current state of the Liberal Party.   Tim also advocates for the return of the mighty North Sydney Bears to the NRL Premiership in an interview that is not to be missed.   Please follow or contact Tim James MP at: https://www.timjamesmp.com.au https://twitter.com/timothycjames https://www.facebook.com/TimJamesMP https://www.instagram.com/timjames.mp   SHOW YOUR SUPPORT for the ExCandidates at ‘Buy Me A Coffee' – Donate or Sign up for our Membership https://www.buymeacoffee.com/excandidates   Hosted by: ·        Adam Zahra - One Nation candidate for Macarthur (Federal) and Campbelltown (NSW) https://twitter.com/AdamZahra2023 https://www.instagram.com/zahra4campbelltown   ·        Steven Tripp – Former candidate for Warringah https://www.facebook.com/RealStevenTripp https://twitter.com/RealStevenTripp https://spectator.com.au/author/steven-tripp Follow us on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GIXhHBogM1McL5EPGP3DT Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/ExCandidates Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExCandidates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excandidates Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExCandidates YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@excandidates Gab: https://gab.com/ExCandidates Gettr: https://gettr.com/user/excandidates Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@Excandidates Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ex-candidates/id1631685864   Please share and spread the word!   #AusPol #nswpol #interview #podcast #politics #commentary #housing #housingaffordability #thevoice #nsw #willoughby #timjames #liberalparty #liberal  

A trio of appointments were announced this week by government with MHKs John Wannenburgh and Tim Glover taking over as chairs of Manx Utilities and Office of Fair Trading, subject to Tynwald approval. John is current Chair at the OFT and Rob Callister was Chair at the MUA last year. Rob now takes over as Chair of planning? Did you follow that? Well light and clarity will be delivered on Perspective. Does OFT have enough power and resource to protect consumers? Is planning fit for purpose and will governments planning reform agenda deliver? Will your electricity bills be safe in John Wannenburgh's hands?

There's good news for those abandoned covid fur-babies and the apartment residents who'd love to offer them new homes. The highly dubious tactics clearly aimed at deterring people from having pets in apartments – workarounds for the ban on blanket pet bans, if you like – will be knocked over in proposed changes to NSW strata law.Application fees, pet bonds and demands for additional insurance cover will be no more. These are among several tweaks to strata law on the way in NSW but you'd better believe policy wonks in all the states watch each other's laws like hawks – and any or all of these changes could be coming your way soon.Also on the hit list, Fair Trading will be able to recommend dysfunctional schemes have compulsory strata managers appointed to take over the running of the block, putting failed strata committees into deep freeze for a couple of years.Opportunist developers will have to declare conflicts of interest – and face having costs awarded against them – if they try to use strata funds to combat competing plans.And all strata schemes, regardless of size will need to get two quotes for work that's going to cost more than $30,000.Finally, we have a strata commissioner.  Property Services Commissioner John Minns has had strata added to his portfolio.We examine how that could be a good or bad development, and pick the bones out of all the above on this week's podcast.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

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One NZ, formerly known as Vodafone, has been handed a record $3.675 million fine for breaching the Fair Trading Act. The telecommunications company has reportedly mislead consumers in their marketing of their FibreX broadband service. Commerce Commission chair John Small says One NZ had the substantial financial resources to handle a fine of that size- as misleading consumers can't be a cost of doing business.  "We think it's important that all businesses appreciate the seriousness of the Fair Trading Act, because it's so important for consumer protection and for promotion of competition." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 2285: Our random article of the day is Office of Fair Trading v Abbey National plc.

In this week's episode, Jo & Jade will be discussing the following: - What have our hosts been up to? - Our favourite recommendations for the week! - The ATO is using AI to detect unpaid super - #tilitsdone Our girls win over Canada smashes viewer record - Family & Domestic Violence leave is here - ATO Commission has in resignation - Interest flat lines for another month - The Naughty Corner - Metricon goes under Fair Trading microscope - The Table of Knowledge - Business Bootcamp: Mission LinksThe ATO is using AI to detect unpaid super and it's right 90% of the timeMatildas win over Canada smashes viewer recordInvestigation launched into Australia's top home builder Metricon, as more complaints emergeAll workers can now get paid family and domestic violence leave. Here's what's changingJordan to exit ATO in February after 10 years at helmSmall Business Big Impact PodcastCheck out our website: www.accidentalbookkeeper.com.auAlso check our TikTok and YouTube  Until next week,  Jo & Jade - Co-Hosts Joel - Producer Lauren - Marketing/Sustainability Guru 

In this episode, host Ally Nitschke interviews Mel Kettle who is an expert in leadership and communication. Mel's extensive experience includes working with associations, non-profits, and iconic brands. She is also the host of the podcast Disconnected Life and the author of two books.Mel shares her background and journey into the communication and leadership space. She recounts her first job counting people on the ski tube in the New South Wales Central Coast, as well as her experience organising conferences and working for the Office of Fair Trading in Queensland. Mel emphasises the importance of understanding the pain points of your audience and effectively communicating the right message at the right time.Ally and Mel discuss the challenges of communication and the importance of self-awareness. They provide valuable tips on becoming more self-aware, such as asking oneself questions, listening to others, and observing behaviours. They also highlight the significance of connection in both personal relationships and professional settings.Mel provides five essential tips for new leaders, including taking care of one's health, avoiding burning bridges, setting clear boundaries, understanding values and priorities, and leaving an organisation with grace.The episode covers four crucial lessons for starting a new job, which include prioritising health, maintaining good relationships, establishing clear boundaries, and starting as one intends to continue. Mel also emphasises the importance of learning to communicate with conviction to effectively influence, engage, inspire, and motivate.Listeners are encouraged to connect with Mel through her website, LinkedIn, Instagram, Threads, or by email. Ally also invites listeners to subscribe to the Made For More podcast and leave a positive review on Apple Podcasts. Both Ally and Mel can be found on various social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.Mel Kettle is an internationally recognised expert in fully connected leadership and communication. With more than two decades of experience, Mel is a valuable asset to leaders and teams that want to achieve real connection and sustained engagement. She is the host of the podcast This Connected Life and the author of two books, the best-selling Fully Connected and The Social Association. Connect with MelLinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and her website. Connect With Ally NitschkeMadeformore.com.auConnect with me on LinkedInConnect with me on Instagram and FacebookSubscribe to my YouTube channel

Sydney property developer Jean Nassif and his company Toplace are facing a scary situation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The post Is NSW Fair Trading regulating the new legislation in relation to rent bidding? appeared first on ACOP.

Last week we discussed the new report from the NSW Office of the Building Commissioner – they're calling it a case study – titled “Broken Promises, Blame Games and Balconies”.It's a big document but essential reading for anyone in an apartment block that's about to pursue a claim for defects or is concerned about the way the whole housing industry is going (or not).The case study follows, in granular detail,  the trail of disastrous attempts at defect rectification at the Otto 2 building in Roseberry, Sydney, where residents have been denied access to their balconies after four years and $2.5 million in legal fees. This week, as promised, Building Commissioner David Chandler hooked up with the Flat Chat Wrap podcast and fleshed out some of the major points of the report.Our chat covered issues from why he decided to commission the study in the first place to investing in the fight rather than the fix and other expensive legal follies.This longer-than-usual podcast also touched on how the additional costs of more thorough certification checks pay for themselves many times over, driving “cowboys” out of the industry and, as we try to get more homes built, not allowing quality to be sacrificed in favour of quality.Commissioner Chandler also revealed that Fair Trading is preparing a defects kit for strata committees – not individual owners – to take them step-by-step through identifying defects and getting them fixed by the developers without needing to embark on expensive and emotionally destructive litigation.It's a long chat and we've broken it up into chunks for your listening convenience. If you don't pod, have a look at the transcript (right here) when it's been tidied up.  And you can read Broken Promises, Blame Games and Balconies on this link.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

It seems we have a new culprit on whom to blame Australia's housing shortage – Nimbys.Sue has collated a raft of newspaper articles here, here and here, all of which state or imply that the fault for not enough homes being built lies with local authorities who cave into their constituents' demands not to have high-rise buildings in their burbs.Look, there are many factors that have led to the current lack of housing and the subsequent soaring rents in Australia, but there is no one, single contributing issue.That said, one of them doubtless is having too many residents saying Not In My Back Yard to development proposalsFortunately, we have a solution that.., well, it won't keep Nimbys happy – nothing will do that – but it might make them less unhappy than they otherwise would be.And we follow-up a story about yet another supposed crackdown on dodgy real estate agents, extending that into a minor rant about Fair Trading's pee-weak responses to complaints about strata managers.  That's all in this week's Flat Chat Wrap.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

Rental bidding is set to be banned in NSW as both major parties commit ahead of the state election.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fair Trading Minister Victor Dominello is calling on the Department of Fair Trading to look into "dodgy" real estate agents.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fair Trading Minister Victor Dominello is calling on the Department of Fair Trading to look into "dodgy" real estate agents.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The post Podcast – Are strata managers being targeted for inspections by NSW Fair Trading? appeared first on ACOP.

Co-podder Sue Williams and I took ourselves off to the Owners Corporation Network's 20th anniversary event last week and it turned out to be a very revealing evening indeed. OK, the plaudits and praise were flowing faster than the free wine – and that's saying something. I hosted and Sue delivered a fascinating speech about how the OCN was formed in the darkest days of battle against corrupt developers, their sleazy managers, our supine strata committee and our incompetent strata managers. We thought we were suffering a unique confluence of bad luck … until Sue met other strata chairs and discovered we were far from alone. The big event, however, was Building Commissioner David Chandler's speech. In it he revealed the next phase of his revolution, which will gladden the hearts of owners in older buildings. He also flagged an interest in carbon neutral buildings in the future and had a none too subtle sideswipe at yours truly for my ongoing campaign to get strata out of Fair Trading. But it was generally agreed that the work OCN and especially its executive officer Karen Stiles has done laid the groundwork for David Chandler's appointment as building commissioner. You can hear David's speech in this podcast, but OCN members will be able to stream the entire event — including Sue, strata lawyer Stephen Goddard, OCN chair Fred Tuckwell, stalwart Gerry Chia and Karen (Brokovich) Stiles – on their website ocn.org.au. There were also messages from Fair Trading Minister Victor Dominello and City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore. If you're not a member, there's a simple remedy for that. Check it out … but only after you have listened to this week's Flat Chat Wrap. TRANSCRIPT IN FULL Jimmy  00:00 So as we mentioned last week, we went to the OCN's (the Owners Corporation Network's) 20th anniversary event on Wednesday. There were quite a lot of high-powered people there. Sue  00:12 Yes, the room was packed. It was a fabulous occasion. Jimmy  00:16 The Building Commissioner, David Chandler, was there and the Property Services Commissioner was there. Sue  00:21 John Minns... Jimmy  00:22 And we got a video message from Victor Dominello and Clover Moore. It was very exciting and interesting. So today, we're going to take a listen to what David Chandler said in his speech. He said a couple of really interesting things about new innovations. We'll have a chat about that. I'm Jimmy Thomson, I wrote the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review. Sue  00:46 And I'm Sue Williams and I write about property for Domain. Jimmy  00:48 And this is the Flat Chat Wrap. David Chandler seems to be a very popular man? Sue  01:07 Absolutely. He's a great speaker, isn't he? I mean, he's very colourful and interesting, and very accessible. Jimmy  01:12 Yes. We're going to take a listen to his speech and then we'll have a chat about that... "Now, without OCN, we might never have been blessed with a Building Commissioner at all. And without this particular Building Commissioner, we might never have witnessed the profound and meaningful change in the building industry. Please welcome your Building Commissioner, David Chandler." David Chandler  01:37 Well, it's a privilege to be here today, because we've been on a long journey together. But today's story is really about OCN and I was talking earlier with a few folk here, that I see this is a bit like a graduation ceremony, where I've seen an organisation over 10 or so years (where I've been observing it), go from what was essentially about victims, to an organisation that's about advocacy. And you get a much more coherent engagement with people who have a clear advocacy perspective, rather than just simply being bogged down with their experience as victims. Now, that's not in any way to devalue the hell that I have seen people going through and it's been really... The motivator for me,

Victor Dominello, NSW Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government, Small Business, and Fair Trading, chats with Clinton Maynard about how the NSW Government is urging people to use the FuelCheck app as the fuel excise ends on Wednesday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the third episode of Cleary Gottlieb's Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy interviews John Fingleton CBE, former head of the Office of Fair Trading (now the CMA) and the Irish Competition Authority. Among other things, Nick and John discuss the impact of Brexit on UK antitrust enforcement, the CMA's emergence as one of the world's most interventionalist competition agencies, and UK regulation of Big Tech.

Online shoppers are being misled through online sales. The Commerce Commission has issued a formal warning to online retailer, Occasion Box, for making false and unsubstantiated claims on its website last year. It comes after The Warehouse Group's 1-Day, has been fined $840,000 for misleading how long its daily deals would run for, and the quantity available.  Fair Trading General Manager Vanessa Horne told Kate Hawkesby this is a good reminder for other businesses. She says they need to be able to back up any claims. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Online shoppers are being misled through online sales. The Commerce Commission has issued a formal warning to online retailer, Occasion Box, for making false and unsubstantiated claims on its website last year. It comes after The Warehouse Group's 1-Day, has been fined $840,000 for misleading how long its daily deals would run for, and the quantity available.  Fair Trading General Manager Vanessa Horne told Kate Hawkesby this is a good reminder for other businesses. She says they need to be able to back up any claims. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler has served no other function, he earns our respect and gratitude for being a very useful source of entertaining, informative and occasionally horrifying stories. The latest, from a parliamentary committee meeting, involves an allegation that development company's executives had tried to smear him with a suggestion that he had demanded a $5million bribe to back off from a development where he'd banned sales until defects were fixed. We pick the bones out of that in the podcast.  But Commissioner Chandler isn't just a fruitful source of juicy tales, and we speculate as to where the next phase of his property development revolution is going. We have heard suggestions that he is now going to turn his fearsome gaze towards buildings that have defects and are still under warranty. Why? Because recognising you have defects in your building and knowing your rights is no guarantee that the developer and builder will fix them. Far from it, in many cases. And we also take a look at how Sydney's lower north shore seems destined to be the next hot spot for apartments and the shops and services that people want and need in a modern city. All that and more in this week's Flat Chat Wrap. TRANSCRIPT IN FULL Jimmy  00:00 We always seem to be just one step ahead of the news on this podcast. Sue  00:05 Yes! Jimmy  00:05 Last week, we were talking about dodgy developers and them having the same DNA as criminals and this week, we find out that David Chandler has said that a developer (who has been described as 'dodgy' in parliament), tried to implicate him in demanding bribes. So, we'll be talking about that. We'll be talking about the next phase of David Chandler's work, which is remediation of buildings that are less than six years old and have defects. And you're going to tell us about things that are happening on the lower North Shore of Sydney? Sue  00:46 Yes, about revitalising CBD's. Jimmy  00:48 Okay. I'm Jimmy Thomson, I write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review. Sue  00:54 And I'm Sue Williams, and I write about property for Domain. Jimmy  00:56 And this is the Flat Chat Wrap. That was a stunning piece of news that came out last week... Sue  01:16 It was, wasn't it? Jimmy  01:17 Yes, I mean, according to the Sydney Morning Herald and according to David Chandler; at a Parliamentary Estimates Committee meeting, he was talking about the Toplace Group, whom he has identified in the past as being (or they have been named in Parliament), as dodgy developers. They have this very flamboyant CEO, Jean Nassif, who is typical of that kind of person; you know, he was famous for giving his wife, a bright yellow Lamborghini, and of course, that appeared all over social media. They've got a development called Skyview (I think it's in Castle Hill), which David Chandler had slapped an order on, saying, they should not sell any more apartments, until they had fixed defects in the building. According to his testimony at the parliamentary committee, he was at a meeting with them to discuss this, and one of the Toplace executives (who he has not named), read out an email saying 'put $5 million into a trust account, and we can make the Skyview problem go away.' Sue  01:25 Wow! Jimmy  01:26 You know, there's a couple of things that occured. He told them 'oh, well, just take that straight to the police, because that's extortion.'   They declined to do that, but then he heard that a journalist had been briefed by somebody saying 'did you know David Chandler is corrupt, and he's asked for $5 million as a bribe?' And even then, Fair Trading minister, Kevin Anderson, had somebody come up to him in a meeting, saying 'how do you feel about your Building Commissioner being corrupt?' Sue  03:11 That's incredible, isn't it? My god! Jimmy  03:14 So obviously,

Look, we know it's all done and dusted. David Chandler has re-extended his contract as NSW Building Commissioner, John Minns is back as Property Services Commissioner and Victor Dominello has returned as Fair Trading Minister (for now). In short, the band is back together and former Fair Trading Minister Eleni Petinos - the Yoko Ono of the strata Beatles – has retreated to Miranda where her skills and character are more fully appreciated. However, we can't let it lie. Premier Perrottet insists, Eleni was not sacked because Big Dave and the “other Minns" resigned.  But they definitely would not have performed their synchronised 180s, which would have done ice-dancers proud, if she was still there. So forgive us if we take one final poke at that recent example of political roadkill to see where the tyre tracks lead. Elsewhere in the pod, Jimmy comes up with an idea for a fast-track Fair Trading dispute resolution system, based on common sense and … um … Judge Judy. And we try to make sense of an almost incomprehensible report by four universities for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) which comes to the stunning conclusion that developers want to make money on their projects. Who knew? It also claims that unpredictability makes developers nervous and they need more certainty form government but government probably can't provide it. Or something like that.  Judge for yourself here. And we celebrate a small but significant success by one of our Flatchatters in bringing his strata block back from the edge of the cliff of chaos. All that and more in this week's Flat Chat Wrap. TRANSCRIPT IN FULL Jimmy  00:00 I got a very pleasant message from David Chandler, the other day. Sue  00:03 Did you? Jimmy  00:04 Well, everybody got a message from David Chandler, but it said some nice things... I can't say it said it about me, but the subject line on this email was 'Jimmy Flat Chat,' and it said how great it was to have support among people who actually cared and wanted the whole development thing to be better. So we're going to be talking about how he is back and why he is back; all that stuff. But we're also going to talk about the mess that the previous Fair Trading Minister left, before she got shown the door. We're going to talk about a report from AHURI, The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. Now, they brought a report and I have got to be honest, I don't actually understand what it means, but we'll have a chat about it. And we'll talk about some measures that places are taking, to try and get more rental accommodation available. And we'll talk about a couple of things that have come up in the forum. I'm Jimmy Thomson, I write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review. Sue  01:16 And I'm Sue Williams and I write about property for Domain. Jimmy  01:19 And this is the Flat Chat Wrap. [MUSIC] Jimmy Okay, Eleni Petinos, the former short-lived, Fair Trading and Small Business minister... Now, there's been a lot of stories around about this. About a month ago, she was relieved of her ministry by the Premier, Dominic Perrottet. He said it was because of allegations of bullying and because there was a report about to come out, about bullying and sexual harassment in Parliament. But, it coincided with a letter from David Chandler, basically saying that he couldn't work with her anymore and there was government policy that had been agreed on and they were supposedly moving forward with (but they're basically, stuck in the mud). Then there was a whole business of Ms Petinos having had a meeting with some developers, who had for a while, employed John Barilaro, after he left Parliament, and how Barilaro phoned David Chandler and 'encouraged' him to meet with these people... Sue  02:46 That's kind of real 'interfering in the process.' Jimmy  02:48 Absolutely and then, we found out later that John Minns,

We are in a state of shock here at Flat Chat, wondering if, when David Chandler and Victor Dominello both go, and with dodgy developers already circling the bleeding carcass of Fair Trading like vultures, are we going to be back to the bad old days of seriously defective apartment blocks being the norm? We had no idea when we recorded this podcast that Victor Dominello was about to announce his resignation. NSW Fair Trading is obviously spying on us. We reached this conclusion after weeks of recording the podcast only to find out that, as soon as it was in the can, yet another high-profile departure would be announced. But we were pretty sure that this week we had it covered. A trip to Canberra for the writers festival, plus the resumption of my teaching gig, meant we didn't get this podcast done and dusted until Tuesday morning. No last minute resignations – hurrah! Then, on Wednesday, Sue stepped on a plane for South Africa, rendering her uncontactable and therefore unrecordable for 18 hours.  Minutes later, the news dropped that former, and currently caretaker Fair Trading Minister Victor Dominello is pulling the plug on his political career. It's due to health reasons and very sad; you can read about it here. He was an innovator and hard worker and one of the best Fair Trading ministers this state has ever had However, we still found a lot to discuss about the latest Fair Trading and NSW cabinet schemozzles on this week's podcast and Sue took a punt on who the latest cabinet minister to walk the plank would be. And no, it wasn't Victor. Also, we look at another collapsing (or maybe not) building in Sydney's inner west and Sue becomes strataguru for a day when I fire your questions from the Forum at her. While you consider that, I'm off to get my office swept for Fair Trading bugs. I'm not really worried – they'll probably stop working as soon as the warranty runs out.   TRANSCRIPT IN FULL Jimmy  00:00 David Chandler is going, John Minns has gone. Eleni Petinos has gone, Stuart Ayres is gone; who's next? Sue  00:07 Yes! Maybe, Dominic Perrottet? Jimmy  00:10 Well, we'll see. We'll be talking about that and other much more interesting (and less important things), from the forum, later on. I'm Jimmy Thomson, I write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review. Sue  00:22 And I'm Sue Williams and I write about property for Domain. Jimmy  00:25 And this is the Flat Chat Wrap. [MUSIC] Jimmy So, you think Dominic Perrottet is in danger of losing his job? Sue  00:45 Well, all these things are happening under his reign, aren't they, really? And I mean, obviously, he wasn't... Well, we don't know, but we must assume that he probably wasn't a part of it, because the origins of all these scandals started a long time ago. But, he was obviously a power broker within the party. Jimmy  01:00 Well, you know, they say that it's not the crime that gets you, it's the cover-up.  I'm not suggesting for a moment, that any crime has occurred. Sue  01:08 Of course not. Or, any cover-up! Jimmy  01:13 Perrottet sacked Petinos, within a day of coming back from an overseas trip, on the (I was going to say pretext), grounds that she had been bullying (or she had been accused of bullying), in her office. And this was kind of backed-up by quite a lot of turnover of staff. Sue  01:38 But then he denied it was anything to do with David Chandler, didn't he? Jimmy  01:42 He did. And then we saw David Chandler's letter, where he detailed; well it sort of suggested that pressure had been brought to bear by first of all, Petinos and then John Barilaro, who has got his own set of scandals to deal with. And then in that letter, David Chandler said his position was untenable. Sue  02:08 It was a pretty explosive letter, wasn't it, really? Jimmy  02:10 Yes and he said 'this is not negotiable.' He said 'I'm leaving,

If there is one area of NSW Liberal politics that may be glad that the kerfuffle over the appointment of a trade envoy to New York is drawing so much media attention and political heat, it will be anyone associated with Fair Trading. When we sat down to record this week's podcast and discuss – among other things – the departure of Property Services Commissioner John Minns, we had no idea how chaotic things had become there. To misquote Oscar Wilde, to lose one commissioner is unfortunate, to lose two looks like carelessness. The departure of Commissioner Minns occurred in the same week that Building Commissioner David Chandler announced he was cutting short his extended tenure, and Minister Eleni Petinos was summarily dismissed. Now we can report that Mr Minns' resignation seems to be closely related to a hastily concocted plan to replace him (eventually, if and when parliament gets round to it) with a statutorily appointed independent commissioner. Ironically (or is it predictably?), his temporary replacement has been drawn from Small Business, the part of her portfolio that consumed most of former Minister Petinos' energy and attention during her short tenure. And in another irony, MS Petinos first came to prominence in a sexting scandal involving former Fair Trading minister, Matthew Kean, who has been elevated to deputy premier following the resignation of Stuart Ayres, yet another former Fair Trading Minister. Were our colleagues in the media not consumed with what John ‘Porky' Barilaro did or didn't do and Stuart Ayres did or didn't know about the New York gig, surely they'd be all over this like a cheap suit. It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good.   That's just a small part of this week's podcast.  We also discuss how the brutalist or modernist, or brutally modernist  high rise block looming over Tamarama beach has been given a reprieve following a major speed bump in its process of renewal. We chat about the NCAT case which established that tenants can take legal action against owners corporations to force them to fix defective common property. We have a look at the block where a majority of owners want to take one neighbour to NCAT for being a nuisance … by continually making successful complaints about their businesses to the local council. And we ask, if the victims of flood damage can get their homes bought off them by the government, why can't the poor benighted owners of flats in Mascot Towers be bailed out in the same way? That's all in this week's Flat Chat Wrap. TRANSCRIPT IN FULL Jimmy  00:00 Well, the fallout from various ministries in New South Wales continues; we'll be hearing about the Property Services Commissioner and his sudden departure. Sue  00:13 Gosh, where will it all end? Jimmy  00:16 And, we've got a couple of things from the website, plus some news about that big building at Tamarama. I'm Jimmy Thomson, I write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review. Sue  00:29 I'm Sue Williams and I write about property for Domain. Jimmy  00:32 And this is the Flat Chat Wrap. [MUSIC] Jimmy So it seems Property Commissioner, John Minns, has quit, as well as David Chandler. Sue  00:53 Wow! It's a complete fallout, isn't it really? Jimmy  00:56 Well, you know, we heard that David Chandler hasn't actually left, but he's cut short his extended appointment and then, apparently the same week, John Minns, the Property Commissioner, left the office. Sue  01:12 Why was that, do you know? Jimmy  01:14 Well, I think it might be something to do with the fact that they didn't even realise he was there, because you had trouble getting through to him, didn't you? Sue  01:23 Yes, I was doing a story and someone suggested John Minns would be the perfect person to give me a comment, so I contacted his office... They said "I'm sorry, do you mean Chris Minns (who's the leader of the opposition)?...

There we were, all set with a podcast on David Chandler's resignation in the can, when we heard that NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet had invited Fair Trading Minister Eleni Petinos to leave at her own chosen speed (one for the Dylan fans, there). Now, we could have fudged it with a new intro but Big Dave's not-very-imminent departure was already old news and the vapour trail from Ms Petinos' expensive fragrance was still lingering from her exit, so it was back in the bunker for a re-take. And, full disclosure, there was another reason: we said in the original recording that there was no way that the Premier would sack her, having just supported her while he was in India. Ooops! What does this tell us? Maybe things were a lot worse in Fair Trading than he or we thought. The one thing notably absent in most other commentary about her departure is any suggestion that it had anything to do with her throwing Building Commissioner Chandler under the bus, over a dubious claim that he had misled parliament. But we think that was definitely an element in the decision to send her back to Miranda. Loyalty has its own built-in form of instant karma. Other topics include chats about the two stories from the Tribunal that appear on this page -one about a dispute over fire safety and another about a battle to get a second dog into a unit that had permission for one. And a quick correction, contrary to what I say on the podcast, the Castle apartment block has six whole-floor apartments, not eight or 10, and the home of pooches Peach and Zodiac is a semi in a strata scheme, not a townhouse. That's what I get for talking about stories before I've written them. TRANSCRIPT IN FULL Jimmy  00:00 Sometimes I think, someone in government waits until they know we've recorded our podcast, and then they make big announcements. Sue  00:09 Yes, so we did a big track about David Chandler and now on Sunday night, Dominic Perrottet's office issued his statement about David Chandler. Jimmy  00:20 Well, actually, it was a statement about Elini Petinos. We'll be talking about Eleni Petinos and Dominic Perrottet's response to complaints about her behaviour. I'm Jimmy Thomson, I write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review. Sue  00:39 And I'm Sue Williams and I write about property for Domain. Jimmy  00:41 And this is the Flat Chat Wrap. [MUSIC] Jimmy Okay, last night, as you said, the Premier of New South Wales issued a statement about Eleni Petinos, the Minister for Small Business and Fair Trading. I'm just going to read what he said, and we can talk about her response, and then, we'll look at what led up to this whole thing. So, this is what Premier Perrottet said last night... 'Today I spoke with the Minister for Small Business and Fair Trading, Eleni Petinos, after some further matters concerning her were brought to my attention. In light of these matters, Ms Petino's service as a minister will cease with immediate effect and I will write to the Governor in this regard tomorrow. Minister for Customer Services and Digital Government, Victor Dominello will assume Ms Petino's portfolio responsibilities.' So basically, he sacked her, with immediate effect, Which is incredible really, because usually, Premiers would say 'I spoke to a Minister and they have resigned.' It's really quite unusual, for them to be sacked so abruptly like that. Which kind of suggests that the rumours about her being a fairly acerbic person, who's not prepared to give an inch on much, may be true. Sue  02:15 Perhaps, but they are allegations at this stage; we don't really know. But I guess there'll be (yet another) inquiry. Jimmy  02:25 I'll get you to read what her response was. Sue  02:27 'Tonight, the Premier informed me I would no longer be a Minister in his government. I'm proud of my work while I served the people of New South Wales as Minister for Business and Minis...

This week's Flat Chat Wrap has a look at something we predicted a few weeks ago – that the knives would soon be out for Building Commissioner David Chandler, just as they were all those years ago for Police Commissioner Peter Ryan. Why? Maybe because he's been a bit too successful at doing exactly what he was asked to do - get rid of of a crooks and shonks in the property development industry. Those crooks and shonks didn't get where they are today without having friends in high places ... and the media. We also take a quick squiz at some new statistics that show that more and more Australians are moving into apartment blocks. And Jimmy has a bit of a rant about Airbnb (what, again???) and passes on a brilliant suggestion from a reader that could fix the issue of residential properties being switched to holiday rentals when there's a dire housing shortage. And then we look at the block where someone got themselves elected to their strata committee than promptly gave their vote to a mate and took off for a year's holiday.  There's all that and more on the Flat Chat Wrap this week. TRANSCRIPTION IN FULL Jimmy  00:00 You got over your post-COVID brain fog? Sue  00:03 I don't think I ever had any. Jimmy  00:04 Well, I had it. Sue  00:05 Did you? Jimmy  00:05 Yes, last week.  I did the newsletter and got it all ready and then decided at the last minute to change just one line. I went back in, edited it and then forgot to resend. It was only that I got an email on Friday morning from a reader saying "oh, have you stopped doing your newsletter, because I really look forward to it," that I thought "oh god, it hasn't gone out!" Sue  00:29 Wow, because I actually got the newsletter the other day, and I thought "oh, this is a bit weird. Why am I getting it today?" Jimmy  00:35 Because of brain fog! Okay, right. We'd better crack on. I'm Jimmy Thomson. I write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review. Sue  00:44 And I'm Sue Williams and I write about property for Domain. Jimmy  00:47 This is the Flat Chat Wrap. Remember a few weeks ago, we were talking about David Chandler, and how he was in danger of moving into Peter Ryan territory? Sue  01:12 Oh right; being white-anted? Jimmy  01:13 Yes, and it's started. There's an article you pointed out in The Australian newspaper, that he is being investigated by the Fair Trading Department; his boss, Eleni Petinos, the Fair Trading and Small Business... Sorry, I should correct myself... She's Small Business first and then a bit of Fair Trading, added on. Yes, because of a speech that he made, where he said he'd provided a list to the banks of all the dodgy certifiers... Sue  01:49 Right. It's probably beyond his remit, is it? Jimmy  01:53 Well, he was saying at the time, that these are people who will probably never work again, because they've been shown to be dodgy. And of course, this has set off alarms, because it's much more important for dodgy certifiers to be protected, than it is for people who buy apartments to be protected from dodgy certifiers. Sue  02:18 Well, dodgy certifiers have more access to the funds that you need to go to court... Jimmy  02:24 Dodgy certifiers are employed by dodgy developers. And so this is where somebody (I don't even know who it was in Parliament. I don't know which party they were members of; I don't really care, to be honest). It's just so typical of "oh, he said this thing!" The thing is, he has said this, and there's no doubt that he said it. He was recorded saying it and I think we might have spoken about it before, at a meeting that journalists were not invited to. He said this thing, but has he actually done it? Is there any evidence? Has anybody seen the list? Has anybody from the banks come up and said "oh, yeah, here's the list of dodgy developers." Do you think he was maybe,