Conned REINSW surrenders any influence with NSW State Government

The Real Estate Institute of New South Wales has accused the NSW Fair Trading department of putting little value on its opinions.

The REINSW chief executive Tim McKibbin has quit the department's industry forum which was established to consult on real estate reform.

McKibbin claimed Fair Trading had a “systemic lack of industry knowledge and misguided beliefs.”

He claimed a real estate reference group established in 2015 by former minister Victor Dominello was "an exercise in futility."

“They put us in a forum; that essentially gave us the impression we were being listened to and we were being worked with,” Mr McKibbin told Domain.

“I feel extremely conned and feel they essentially gave me some colouring-in pencils and told me to sit in the corner.

“We met quite regularly but we did not achieve really anything in three and a half years,” he said.

“[Fair Trading] come to these things with the view that they know what they’re doing and they don’t.

“They got us along and we had minutes and meetings and agendas, and we were completely ignored, so the risk of [now] being outside of the conversation is minuscule in my view.”

REINSW chief executive Tim McKibbin outburst comes less than a week after Innovation and Better Regulation Minister Matt Kean introduced rental reforms into State Parliament, which apparently caught the institute by surprise.

Mr Kean hit back at the criticism, saying he was disappointed with the REINSW’s decision.

“It’s disappointing REINSW have chosen not to provide a voice for their members in this important forum, but I welcome real estate agents to engage directly with NSW Fair Trading.”

Government sources alleged to Domain that the REINSW had been relentlessly trying to undermine Fair Trading so that it was removed as a regulator.

Shadow minister for innovation and better regulation Yasmin Catley was concerned by the move and said the institute’s resignation showed the minister and Fair Trading were not engaging with a key stakeholder effectively.

“If you don’t have the peak body at the table … you won’t deliver the key outcomes for consumers,” she said.