REINSW has launched a blistering bid to have Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Anoulack Chanthivong stripped of his portfolio, accusing him of a “resolute determination to ignore” the state’s most vital economic sector.
In a formal letter delivered to NSW Premier Chris Minns, REINSW Chief Executive Officer Timothy McKibbin forcefully requested the Minister’s immediate removal.
Mr McKibbin stated that the property sector, which underpins the state’s social and economic fabric, has been left to languish under years of neglect.
“Real estate is unquestionably the singular most important asset class in New South Wales,” Mr McKibbin wrote.
“It touches the lives of every resident, homeowners, tenants, landlords, purchasers and investors. It is said that property is a cradle-to-the-grave relationship”.
According to REINSW, Minister Chanthivong has refused repeated requests to meet with the sector, which the institute says amounts to shutting down engagement while he continues to publicly criticise real estate professionals.
“The property services industry (‘Industry’) and the property market (‘Market’) have systemic, complex problems, built up over years of neglect,” Mr McKibbin argued.
“To successfully tackle the challenges will require industry knowledge, political courage and leadership. Unfortunately, Minister Chanthivong is not the answer the Industry and Market need”.
Warning of the economic fallout of this communication breakdown, he added, “The Minister can ignore the Market, but he cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring the Market”.
At the heart of the industry’s rebellion is an “obvious disconnect” between the severe regulatory standards forced upon agents and the shockingly low barriers to entering the profession.
Mr McKibbin pointed out a gaping regulatory paradox, stating: “The Minister expects real estate professionals to deliver compliant, quality services to consumers. He expects them to have knowledge of 22 legislative instruments. This year alone, he expects them to absorb 449 legislative changes, each with their own complexities, and which carry severe penalties for non-compliance”.
Yet, in stark contrast to these intense compliance demands, the Minister continues to support a system where individuals can step into the legally complex, high-stakes property market with less than a week of formal education.
According to the REINSW, this standard of inadequate education is actively failing the community and has triggered a devastating 80% attrition rate for new real estate entrants within their very first year.
The institute argues that a regulator who refuses to engage with the market he governs is fundamentally incapable of protecting the public.
“We don’t want a Minister who is content to have the job. We need one who will do the job,” Mr McKibbin wrote, concluding that “clearly, a Minister who does not understand an Industry of this scale and complexity should not be entrusted with responsibility for it”.
So far, neither Minister Chanthivong nor Premier Chris Minns has issued an official, direct response to the letter.
Just weeks prior, Minister Chanthivong successfully pushed through tough new underquoting laws targeting the real estate sector, bumping non-compliance penalties up to $110,000, while simultaneously driving the government’s highly contested “No Grounds” rental reform bill, which the REINSW has fiercely opposed.
Citing a severe wave of psychosocial harm sweeping through the industry due to this regulatory chaos and the government’s total lock-out of industry consultation, the REINSW has taken the extraordinary step of lodging formal complaints against the government with both the NSW Ombudsman and SafeWork NSW.
Demanding an engaged replacement, Mr McKibbin reminded the Premier that “inaction is itself, a conscious activity” and called on the government to remember its “moral and ethical contract with the community”.