A NSW minister says the public has a right to know which government buildings have flammable cladding, only days after confirmation University of Newcastle buildings and Newcastle Courthouse have been assessed for potential flammable cladding risks.
NSW Minister for Property Melinda Pavey told a Budget Estimates hearing on Tuesday that public buildings such as hospitals, public sector office blocks or education facilities with potentially dangerous flammable cladding should be disclosed.
The full list of about 550 NSW buildings with flammable aluminium cladding remains undisclosed and under the control of Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Kevin Anderson, said deputy NSW Labor leader and Swansea MP Yasmin Catley.
In response to a question about whether it was in the public interest to disclose the list of public buildings with potential flammable cladding risks, Ms Pavey told a Budget Estimates hearing that "I think it is information that should be available, certainly".
An earlier parliamentary hearing was told a Central Coast hospital was included in the list of public buildings being assessed for potential flammable cladding risks.
Ms Pavey is minister of a department which owns and leases thousands of state properties, some with flammable cladding.
Ms Catley, who is also shadow minister for building reform, called on the NSW Government to immediately release the list of public buildings with flammable cladding, under a government process that has been strongly criticised for being too slow and overly complex in the wake of the London Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017. More than 70 people died when a simple kitchen fire led to destruction of the tower complex because of flammable cladding.
"It is essential for people to feel safe when they enter a hospital or a TAFE building, yet this government is more interested in a cover-up than the safety of people visiting and working in public buildings like the Ultimo TAFE," Ms Catley said.
"We need the full list of public buildings which have this deadly product to be released so that we can hold the government to account on the rectification and removal of all flammable cladding," she said.
The list of affected NSW buildings includes at least several residential buildings in the Newcastle area.
In February a parliamentary inquiry on building standards was told 45 buildings in the Newcastle local government area had been identified with flammable cladding, including seven owned by the NSW Government.
Only one Newcastle building has had cladding removed under a NSW process described as "piecemeal", that leaves local councils and owner corporations carrying the costs.
In February the NSW cladding taskforce said the University of Newcastle's New Space building in Hunter Street and its Advanced Technology Centre at Callaghan are "undergoing assessment to determine if they have cladding requiring remediation".
"The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment is overseeing this process as the consent authority for the university's 'New Space' building," the taskforce said.
The Victorian Government established a cladding taskforce in 2017 under former Premier Ted Baillieu to assess the extent of combustible cladding across the state, advise on rectification and recommend regulatory reforms, with $600 million in government funding to rectify at-risk buildings.
