15 August 2025
ETU Condemns Boothby’s Reckless Electrical Rollback: “Putting Territory Lives at Risk”
The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) has slammed NT Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby’s proposal to repeal critical sections of the Electrical Safety Regulations 2024 as an act of dangerous political opportunism that will put lives at risk across the Northern Territory.
Attorney-General Boothby announced her government’s intention to scrap mandatory safety requirements for electrical installations during property sales and rentals reforms that were designed to prevent injury and death caused by unsafe wiring in homes.
ETU Queensland and NT Branch Secretary Peter Ong said the Minister’s decision to circumvent industry consultation and gut the regulations shows an appalling disregard for public safety.
“Let’s be clear: Boothby wants to strip out the very protections that save lives,” Ong said.
“Electrical safety is not red tape, it’s a legal and moral obligation. Removing these laws will mean more dangerous homes, more avoidable accidents, and possibly more funerals.”
Under the regulations the CLP now seeks to repeal, property owners are required to ensure basic safety measures such as functional safety switches (RCDs), were in place before leasing or selling homes. RCD’s have been mandatory in all new installations for almost 20 years, repealing this section without consultation with the Electrical Safety Board is dangerous. “Every state in Australia requires electrical work to be certified and documented. The NT shouldn’t be racing to the bottom, yet that’s exactly what Boothby is doing,” Ong said.
Boothby has also floated the idea of allowing “low risk” electrical work to proceed without a Certificate of Compliance. The ETU is calling this proposal reckless and unlawful all electrical installations have always been required to be tested and documented in line with AS3000 Wiring rules. This is not new. “There is no such thing as ‘low risk’ electrical work. All electrical work is inherently dangerous unless performed and certified by a licensed electrician,” Ong said. “Boothby is out of her depth, and her government is playing with fire, literally.”
The ETU has also highlighted that the NT Electrical Safety Board, tasked with independent oversight and safety advice, has not been appointed, yet the Minister is proceeding with major regulatory changes without their expert input. She has wasted almost a year since coming into office to appoint a board and has failed to do this.
“The Electrical Safety Board should be the body advising on these reforms. Instead, Boothby is bypassing them altogether and taking electrical safety advice from the property lobby. That’s not consultation, it’s negligence.”
The ETU is calling on the NT Government to immediately halt any attempt to weaken electrical safety standards and to restore proper consultative processes through the Safety Board and industry stakeholders. “The Finocchiaro Government claims to support working people and safer communities. If that’s true, they’ll scrap this reckless rollback before someone gets killed,” Ong said.
For more information, call David ‘Strawbs’ Hayes 0419 721 042 or Andrew Irvine 0429535860