Payroll Tax Rebate, Revenue and Other Legislation Amendment Bill meter installation provisions pass WITH AMENDMENTS
Date: 29-Jun-2017
The proposed changes to meter installation legislation passed parliament last night. The transcript is available here. The matter received direct attention in yesterday’s Courier Mail.
Parliament heard from the Treasurer, Deputy Leader of the Opposition and unusually all representatives of the Finance and Administration Committee (the word “meter” appears 132 times in the transcript). The government has continued to justify its position on the basis that the amendments which now see licensed plumbers installing meters will remove any risk to public health and safety posed by unlicensed installers. The concerns about access to plumbers in regional and remote locations prosecuted by LGAQ have essentially been disregarded citing public safety as the primary concern overriding any other arguments. Numerous inaccuracies were re-presented, along with some new – for example the assumption that all customer complaints relating to meters are due to installation, rather than other failures or general maintenance issues.
The qldwater submission to the Committee which included our position paper drafted in February was quoted on numerous occasions, in particular the paragraph:
“The policy objective clearly supports the re-establishment of a protected market for plumbers for work which is more appropriately managed by water service providers. It has been developed under the false premise of improvement to public safety. By adopting this position, the Queensland Government is ignoring industry best practice in Australia and internationally.”
LGAQ representations were also frequently quoted.
Towards the end of proceedings, Mr Knuth from the Katter Australia Party proposed an amendment to the 2 year transition period to 18 months. This amendment was accepted:
(PITT) “Those opposite need to understand that this is not just one view of one particular organisation; there are several views. They have made it very clear that they think the transition period is excessive. They anticipate that it should take no longer than six months to transition to an apprenticeship. We had a period of two years. We are happy to look at 18 months, and we will review that when the time arises. We will support the amendment.”
In summary:
- We believe that from that time of assent (likely a couple of weeks), the transitionary period kicks in, meaning that service providers have 18 months to adjust practices so that licensed plumbers or enrolled apprentices operating under supervision are installing new meters.
- Maintenance and replacement of meters will be able to be performed by authorised persons who may include appropriately trained service provider staff, licensed plumbers or enrolled apprentices operating under supervision, depending on the service provider’s established practice.
For further information contact Dave Cameron, dcameron@qldwater.com.au, 0407761991.
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