Tomorrow the NSW Parliament Lower House will debate Minister Kean’s Fair Trading Amendment (Short-Term Rental Accommodation) Bill.
This bill, if passed, will deliver a blow to Byron Bay as it proposes to allow short term letting up to 180 days a year. This will only encourage property owners to furtehr commercialise our neighbourhoods, turning them in to business precincts. They could make more money on half a year’s holiday letting than they would on letting all year to a local person who needs a home – all at the cost of our community.
From Neighbours Not Strangers letter to the Premier:
“Premier Gladys Berejiklian, you have not responded to questions over MPs ‘conflicts of interest’ on this matter. So far we know of five State MPs who have failed to disclose short-term rental properties on their Declarations to Parliament; we suspect there are many more:
Deputy Premier John Barilaro (LNP) – seven-bedroom Airbnb Estate
Three LNP MPs properties on these NSW Land and Environment Court Orders – referred to the ICAC
Labor’s Jodi McKay – five-bedroom Airbnb property plus granny flat
All that has been presented to us to date in response to Parliament’s (almost) three-year review of this issue leaves NSW Residents with close to zero confidence that this critical issue can be entrusted to Members of our State Parliament. It would appear that Parliamentarians still have no understanding of the complexities and profound repercussions of industry short-term holiday/visitor rentals.
Minister Kean’s Bill, trumpeted by him as a “crack down ” and given full Media coverage, proposes an ‘Industry Code of Conduct’ plus other recommendations that will grant ‘open slather’ to all short-term rental platform operators.Of note, an Industry Holiday Rental Code of Conduct has been in place in NSW since 31 May 2012. The Hon Brad Hazzard, who at the time was the NSW Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, endorsed this Code of Conduct.” more of NNS Letter to Premier
Byron Residents' Group 