States and territories have agreed to a nationwide construction ban on combustible cladding, but removing the hazardous material from existing buildings continues to cause a headache.
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A meeting of building ministers in Hobart on Friday agreed to an in-principle ban, aimed to reduce the risk posed by flammable cladding, which has been highlighted as a threat to life.
Federal minister Karen Andrews confirmed the pact, "subject to proper investigation and some discussions with industry".
"Victoria and NSW have already moved to ban the use of cladding on new construction over certain (heights)," she told reporters.
"The states can now work on how they're going to further implement changes in their own jurisdictions. Each state or territory can proceed immediately to implement bans in full but I'm going to encourage them to bring industry with them."
Consensus on the issue comes after a Melbourne CBD apartment tower covered in flammable cladding caught fire on Monday, sparked by a cigarette on a 22nd-storey balcony.
The 40-storey tower had been identified previously as 'moderate risk' due to its external cladding and was one of more than 2000 inspected by the Victorian Building Authority.
The fire quickly spread five storeys up and hundreds of residents are still prevented from returning amid safety concerns unrelated to the cladding.
Ms Andrews conceded there was a matter of urgency linked to the remediation of buildings currently fitted with the risky cladding.
"We recognise there is a timeliness issue here and that we need to move forward at a very fast place," she said.
"It is an issue of concern to residents in apartment blocks and of course workers."
But there was no solution suggested and the matter is scheduled to be discussed again in July.
Since the Melbourne fire there has been debate about the public awareness campaign for people living in identified buildings, with some residents unaware there was dodgy cladding.
Victoria authorities are reluctant to make public their list of hundreds of questionable buildings, fearing they would become a target for arson or terror attacks.
"We are not prepared to accede to calls from some people who are ill informed that those buildings ought to be in the public arena," Victoria's Planning Minister Richard Wynne said.
"All of the expert advice we've been provided with is that they would be an arson target."
Cities across the world were put on notice after London's Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 when an inferno engulfed the 24-storey block of flats, killing 72 people.
Australian Associated Press
