The Canberra Liberals will host a roundtable forum with 20 participants from the construction industry on Thursday May 2, Mark Parton, Shadow Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction, has announced.

“There are some very concerning problems that are specific to the ACT, and the Canberra Liberals want to know exactly what they are by speaking with members of the industry,” Mr Parton said.

Four Canberra construction companies have folded within the space of a month, Mr Parton observed: Project Coordination, Rork Projects Canberra, Cubitt’s Granny Flats and Home Extensions, and Voyager Projects. Last year, too, the well-established PBS Building ACT entered administration.

“I have been contacted by a range of stakeholders during this crisis, and we thought it was important to get everyone together to discuss the issues and as we know this Labor-Greens government fails time and time again when it comes to consultation.

“The participants of the roundtable will be from a wide cross-section within the industry such as subcontractors, major companies, medium-sized firms, and umbrella organisations.

“As the Shadow Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction, I think it is very import to have a genuinely robust and honest discussion about what is going wrong and how we can fix it.

“Among the issues that will be discussed is the urgency of development applications and the increasing rules and regulations imposed by the Labor-Greens government that only those in Canberra have to comply with.”