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| This bill is designed to fill a gap in legislation which should have been passed by government years ago. The bill simply states the rights and responsibilities of owners, managers and long-term residents of residential parks. The Territory once had such legislation when the Residential Tenancies Act was reviewed and after some lobbying from industry, the sections of the act which related to caravan parks was deleted. The lack of protection for long-term residents of caravan parks was highlighted after a number of complaints were received from residents of the now defunct Sundowner Caravan Park. The first complaints related to a sudden increase in rent without any prior notification. Overnight, the rent was increased by $10 per week for anyone who used their own washing machine. Other complaints related to the lack of notification by the owner of the park that the park was to be sold and that everyone would have to pack up and leave, even though many residents have been there for a long time. The closure also highlighted problems with sub-tenancy arrangements where tenants had made private arrangements to sub-let their sites without permission or notification from the owners. Another issue that arose is where tenants had built structures that were not approved by the owner of the park nor had building approval. The obviously needed to be a set of legislative rules that spelt out the rights and responsibilities of those residents and owners and managers in these parks. Madam Speaker, to ascertain what owners, managers and residents thought, a survey was carried out for the majority of caravan parks in the NT. Most of the Northern Territory caravan parks were covered except for Timber Creek, Daly River, Borroloola and Uluru regions. I hand delivered survey forms to the caravan parks and if there was no one in attendance, left them at the front door. A few were mailed on request. It should be noted that many caravan parks in the Northern Territory do not cater for long term tenants, so it will probably be the case that owner managers did not respond because the proposed legislation would not have affected them, but many of these people running the parks did have caravan park experience so it was thought that they should have the opportunity to respond to the survey. The survey found strong support for some form of legislative framework to cover people who live permanently in caravan parks as well as park owners. Although there were a few respondents who rejected this notion, the results overwhelmingly from residents and owner managers supported legislative backing. It is from this survey and from looking at interstate legislation this bill has been developed. The bill has been divided into a number of sections which are explained in more detail in the accompanying explanatory statement. Part one deals with preliminary matters which includes definitions of terms used throughout the act. Part two relates to the Residential Parks Commissioner who is the same person as the Commissioner for Tenancies under the Residential Tenancies Act and this section sets out his powers and responsibilities. Part three sets out matters relating to park rules, the setting up of residents committees and the amendment of park rules. Part four deals with the formation of residential park agreements. This is a key part of this act when read in relation to section five, which deals with the mutual rights and obligations of park owners and residents and covers such matters as rents and charges, condition reports and bonds, terms of the agreement including the right to possession and quiet enjoyment, the obligations of both the park owner and residents and rights of entry. Part six relates to assignments and sub-tenancy agreements. This makes sure there is a clear understanding of the rules in relation to assignment and sub-tenancy and avoids some of the difficulties that occurred at the Sundowner Caravan Park. Part seven details when residential park agreements can be terminated either by the park owner or the resident and includes the role of the Commissioner of Residential Parks. This section also details what are the park owner’s rights in relation to abandoned property, including personal documents and abandoned dwellings. Part eight covers the acquisition of the park or site. This part specifics the right of the new owner when dealing with a resident who has a residential park agreement. Part nine covers the sale of a dwelling on a site, and makes clear both the residents’ rights and the owners’ rights. Part 10 outlines dispute resolution proceedings, describing how either an owner or resident may apply to the Commissioner where there is a dispute or breach of an agreement has occurred. Part 11 relates to the serving of notices. Part 12 looks at various miscellaneous matters. Part 13 deals with the Administrator’s powers to make regulations and describes what may be in those regulations, and Part 14 covers transitional matters. Madam Speaker, as I said at the beginning, this bill fills a gap in legislation. It will now state clearly the rights and responsibilities of both residents and owners. It is not designed to hinder the rights of a park owner, but to clarify the rights of the owner whilst, at the same time, recognising that long term residents also have rights and responsibilities. It is practical legislation designed to cover residential parks that have not being covered by the legislation since 1999 when the Residential Tenancy Act was passed. The act specifically leaves out caravan parks, and it was presumed from statements at that time, and more recently, that government intended to introduce legislation to fix this anomaly, but it has not done so, hence this legislation. I hope the government will support this bill, but if the government decides will not support the bill when it comes up for debate next year, I do hope it will introduce its own legislation and use some of the details found in this bill, as well as the results from the survey, in developing its own response to this gap in legislation. I note that a previous Minister for Justice, Dr Toyne, did write to me on 27 March 2006, saying that, ‘I can confirm that the issue of caravan parks is currently being examined and may result in law reform at some future stage’, so I live in hope that something will happen. Madam Speaker, there will be ample time for comments from industry and residents. I encourage those comments to come in. I should also say that this bill will not be debated until April next year, so there will be ample time for industry and residents to send in their comments. Madam Speaker, I commend this bill and the explanatory notes to honourable members. Debate adjourned. |