Senate Chamber (part 2 of 2)

17 September 2026

Senate Australian Parliament

00:00 - 00:09
Speaker 2
They have a legal duty to do better, to identify harms and to take reasonable steps to prevent them. 
00:09 - 00:11
Speaker 1
Senator Barbara Pocock. 
00:11 - 01:16
Speaker 3
Thank you, Acting Deputy President.  Well, the collapse of Bathla Group, the housing developer, shows why Australia needs a public developer for our housing crisis.  Private developer Bathla Group owes over $3.4 billion to around 3,000 creditors.  They have over 14,000 homes stalled in their building pipeline. 

So many people have been left feeling betrayed, devastated, and without a home, like Janice, who paid her deposit years ago, Donna, whose Bathla home was her retirement plan.  Hundreds of jobs have been lost, and the remaining workers and contractors are owed very large amounts of money, and some of them have gone without their wages for up to eight weeks.  People's entire savings are on the line.  Homeowners and workers impacted by Bathla's collapse must be protected.  This is what's wrong with our housing system, when housing is designed primarily for profit instead of being treated as a basic human right. 

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