Ms JULIA FINN (Granville) (11:40): My question is addressed to the Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading. Will the Minister please update the House on the progress of the Minns Labor Government's renters' rights bill that will protect tenants from misleading ads and privacy infringements?
Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG (Macquarie Fields—Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology, Minister for Building, and Minister for Corrections) (11:41): I thank the member for Granville for her question. I know she is keen to protect the renters in her electorate, and their privacy. The Government was elected with a mandate to make renting fairer for the people of New South Wales. We have delivered on that mandate, including a ban on no-grounds evictions for the first time in this State. Now we are trying to protect a renter's privacy and also cracking down on misleading rental ads. Our commonsense reforms will make a positive difference to the 2.3 million renters in our State. The Opposition talk a big game about helping renters, but it is more interested in schoolyard politics and playing political games than passing the Government's practical reforms. The Opposition's obstructionism and obfuscation means that 2.3 million renters in New South Wales will continue to have their privacy compromised. The clear message to the renters of New South Wales is that the Opposition does not care about them.
Around 187,000 pieces of identification are collected from renters every week. That is an incredible amount of information put at risk of a data breach. Renters are being asked to provide information including photos, social media accounts, their relationship status, how many kids they have and even details about their personal tattoos. How absurd. Yet that sensitive information is being used to determine whether somebody gets a rental home. Surely the most important information a renter should provide is whether they can pay the rent. It is not about their relationship status, how many kids they have or their personal tattoos. At best, that is a gross invasion of people's privacy and dignity; at worst, it can lead to discrimination in decision‑making and the information can be onsold for profit.
On top of that, renters are being misled by fake images in rental ads, making houses or properties look better than they are. This situation is unacceptable. That is why the Government's rental privacy bill will make clear what information can and cannot be collected. It will give clear rules on how that sensitive information should be destroyed and will increase the penalty to almost $50,000 for those who breach the law. These are practical, commonsense, positive reforms that will actually work. The call for change comes from right across the sector. The Federal privacy commissioner has called for urgent reforms to protect renters. The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute has called for changes to protect against data breaches, discrimination and privacy violations. [Extension of time]
All of those calls to pass the Government's reforms are falling on the deaf ears of Opposition members. The Government's rental privacy bill before the upper House gives renters the privacy protections that they and their families deserve. But, of course, the Opposition is playing games. It is holding up the Government's reforms. The Government's bill has become caught up in the chaos created by the Opposition's unholy alliance with The Greens and the Hon. Mark Latham. But I am not surprised by their antics. It is classic behaviour from the Liberals and The Nationals.
The SPEAKER: I call the member for Newtown to order for the first time.
Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG: The Opposition has shown time and again that it does not stand for anything. Let us look at its record. In 2018, those opposite voted against Labor's amendments on no-grounds evictions. In 2024, they tried to water down the Government's rules against no-grounds evictions. They passed their own legislation for a bond rollover scheme but never delivered it—in five years. Now the Opposition's political games are holding up privacy reforms that will protect renters from identity theft.
The SPEAKER: I call the member for Newtown to order for the second time.
Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG: The only thing that is consistent about the Opposition is it does not care and has never cared about the 2.3 million renters in New South Wales. That is its position.
The SPEAKER: I call the member for Willoughby to order for the first time.
Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG: The Liberals and The Nationals have given nothing but empty promises to the renters of New South Wales. They are all rhetoric and no reform. Labor has given renters results. We are focused on delivering practical reforms to protect the privacy of renters and to prevent misleading rental ads. The Government does not want any renter waking up to find that their data has been breached. We do not want people wasting their time going to property inspections when they have been misled by a fake ad. The Government's reforms will make a huge difference to the lives of the 2.3 million renters in New South Wales, but they continue to be stalled by the Opposition's shenanigans and schoolyard politics.
