AIRBNB: REPORTED DEATH OF SECOND FOUR-YEAR OLD BOY
Of late there has been a hive of activity on Social Media amongst Airbnb landlords about ‘Waivers’. The chat mostly centres on swimming pools not meeting safety criteria and the presence of children in (uncertified) short-term rental properties. Yesterday one was presented with: tragic death of four-year old boy at an Airbnb rental, this time in Maleny, Queensland. News of this incident first reached us via the British Media.
We are still awaiting a copy of the Coronial Inquiry into a four-year old boy “burnt to death” in a holiday home fire near Adaminaby and whether the property was available for lease through National Parks NSW.
NSW Fair Trading has released a list of the Organisations invited to form the ‘(STRA) Code of Conduct Advisory Committee’. Noticeably absent are the Residents Groups who’s Submissions to the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry were marked by the Committee as ‘confidential’; access to the contents of said Submissions is forbidden. One contributor remarked today: “Seventeen different groups represented. No reps from those…actual resident groups!” (Correction: The Owners Corporation Network is present; their ‘softly, softly position with Government’ being at odds with that arrived at by their Short-Term Rental Sub-committee.)
A Short-Term Industry Holiday Rental Code of Conduct has been in place since 31 May 2012. The Hon Brad Hazzard, then NSW Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, signed off on it. DestinationNSW, an official branch of the NSW Government, also has a Code of Conduct and Ethics. In the six+ intervening years there is zero evidence of any compliance whatsoever by those in the Short-Term Industry with Federal, State or Local Government Codes of any description or Residential Zoning. Indeed, the purpose of listing residential dwellings on holiday rental platforms seems to be, in most cases, the circumvention of any type of compliance.
For obvious reasons Residential Dwellings are not certified as ‘safe’ for commercial operations. How many more deaths will need to go to our Coroners for review before legislators will give priority to the lives of NSW Residents and Visitors ahead of the profits of off-shore booking platforms and greedy landlords?
Homes not Hotels Communities not Transit Zones People before Profits
Neighbours not Strangers
