Hell hath no fury like a Minister scorned
After a verbal stoush over Victoria’s retirement village reforms, Minister for Consumer Affairs Nick Staikos has found time to “bully” Retirement Living Council Executive Director Daniel Gannon.
The Minister had spoken at the Property Council Retirement Village Outlook event in Melbourne on Tuesday (24 February) and discussed the new Retirement Village Act coming into force on 1 May this year.
“Some regulations will commence later in 2026. These include the Code of Practice for industry operators and the standard form contract,” the Minister told the audience.
Daniel then spoke, criticising the Minister and seeking a deferral of the new act.
“The legislation relies heavily on regulations for guidance that do not yet exist. No matter how long the legislation itself has been in the market. Too much is left to the regulations for anyone to act with confidence today,” Daniel told the Minister.
“We need a workable regulatory outline, a clear shape, something operators and service providers can lawfully build from and fill with detail. Unfortunately, after years of reform and months of preparation, much of the regulatory canvas remains blank.”
In what seemed a rushed announcement, The Weekly SOURCE was told by the Victorian Premier’s Office that the regulations will be issued on Monday (2 March).
The Minister then took to all his social media platforms and used a video using a section of ABC 7.30’s 2024 story Retirement Rip Off and the interview by reporter Adele Ferguson with Daniel Gannon. He declared in the clip that he would not be spoken to like that in the future.
“So this guy flew into Victoria to demand that I delay the commencement of Victoria’s reforms to retirement villages. These reforms are all about the Victorians who live in retirement villages who frankly have been treated very, very poorly,” said the Minister in the video (link above).
“Well I will not be bowing to powerful interests. I am in the corner of older Australians who deserve dignity in retirement. These reforms will commence on 1 May 2026.”
Daniel reignited the tit-for-tat over the retirement village reforms following the Minister's Facebook post.
“We won’t be bullied by a government that’s producing social media content faster than it’s writing the crucial regulations older Victorians need,” he said on Friday (27 February).
“Without the regulations, older Victorians face genuine uncertainty – including the real risk of being displaced or left without a home while the system catches up.
“It’s shocking that clarity only arrived once the issue was forced into the open, with the Premier’s office stepping in to confirm the draft regulations will finally be released on Monday.”
