Call to ban imports of cladding

IMPORTS of highlyflammable cladding found on thousands of buildings across Australian would be banned, under a bill to be debated in the Senate this week.

Nick Xenophon Team Senator Rex Patrick is leading the push for an outright ban on building panels which contain the same polyethylene aluminium products which ignited during the deadly Grenfell Tower blaze in London in 2017 which killed 71 people.

“In light of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, there cannot be legitimate use of polyethylene core aluminium composite panels on any building type,’’ Sen Patrick said.

“While Australian Border Force and suppliers of Aluminium Composite Material are currently unable to determine whether an imported building product will be used in a compliant manner, a ban on importation is necessary to prevent any disasters such as the Grenfell Tower tragedy occurring in Australia.”

Labor supports the import ban but the federal government argues that while PE composite panels shouldn’t be used as building insulations, they have other legitimate industrial uses.