ACT Government and Asbestos

While we are on the subject of governance and mirth let's hear it for the ACT government. They issued some legislation recently with all of the good intentions in the world. It was legislation to help protect poor tradesmen who could come into contact with Asbestos when doing repairs around a house.

Great idea, well intentioned.

Alas the implementation seems to leave a little to be desired.

I received a letter from my real estate agent today which tells me that I am required by this new law to declare what I know about asbestos on my property.

You have to be kidding! When I bought the property there was no requirement to test it for asbestos and so of course I have no idea.

So what am I going to say on this official form? "Blowed if I know?"

Being a careful and conscientious sort of bloke, I called my agent and asked if there was someone I could call to inspect the property to find out. They gave me a number and I called. This is a firm of home inspectors who advised that in the ACT only the CSIRO has the facility to test for asbestos. They further advised that to make the test they would have to come to the property and take a minimum of 10 samples from the walls etc. (no doubt leaving holes) and each of these would cost money to take and to have tested. The overall cost they estimated at around $1000. However they advised that they could not really undertake the work because the legislation did not have any guidelines attached to it so no one currently knows what is going to be expected of people who own property and so they were advising people to hold off until the matter was clarified.

Meanwhile I am still stuck with this idiotic piece of paper to which I have to add my signature only to say something along the lines that I have no idea whether there is or not any asbestos on my property. The cost to me is at least a 50c stamp and an envelope, not to mention the phone calls about all this but in addition as part of the rates that I have pay I am paying some public servants to send and receive forms that will have no substantial value to anyone.

On top of the recent legislation to require people to pay land tax on their property when they cannot own land in the ACT and when the ACT government also does not own the land that they lease out this is just more idiocy from a government in which either the advisers, or the politicians or the public servants who work out the details need some coaching on how to create legislation and mechanisms of implementation.

Come the next elections I guess I will have to review the record of this government and its ineptitude and vote accordingly.