Unhappy customers are raising complaints of long delays to complete homes and failure to fix defects just days before Bob Day vies to retain his seat in South Australia. Omar Dabbagh reports.
Family First senator Bob Day will be fighting for his political life in Saturday's federal election, but, for now, he faces another big challenge in New South Wales.
On Thursday, a delegation of unhappy clients are set to meet the state Fair Trading Minister to request he suspend the licence of Senator Day's building company, Huxley Homes.
Huxley Homes is the Sydney branch of Senator Day's five-state home-building business, the Home Australia Group.
Senator Day is the director.
One affected couple are Stuart and Dr Melinda Bunt, who entered a 40-week building contract with Huxley Homes.
Almost two years after building began, Dr Bunt says defective work and protracted delays mean the house remains incomplete.
"This is three years down the track having signed the contract with Huxley Homes, and we're still nowhere near finishing the house ... We've got a leakage problem when the taps get turned on in the bathroom upstairs, coming down to the kitchen."
Senator Day's platform for the Family First party has been, "For every family, a job and a house."
However, Dr Bunt says it does not ring true.
"It's very frustrating at the moment to see Bob Day campaigning with the mantra 'For every family, a job and house,' when there's so many people in New South Wales building with Huxley Homes that still don't have their house finished. We don't feel like he's putting our family first."
It is a similar tale for Shane Summerhayes.
He and his wife also signed a 40-week contract with Huxley, but, after the same 102 weeks, their home is still incomplete.
Mr Summerhayes says his home went seven months without a roof and, during the last private inspection, had 97 defects.
"This build's been going on for 102 weeks now. Since then, I've gone through four general managers through Huxley. We're up to our fourth building supervisor ... So I'm about $225,000 out of pocket. And it goes up every week, spending money on a brand new house, and it's just, you know, falling apart from under us."
Shane Summerhayes says he had to borrow money from his parents and almost bankrupt his business to pay the building costs.
SBS has spoken to seven other unhappy clients who have had similar problems.
A procession of more than 20 Huxley Homes customers previously complained to Fair Trading and the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Complaints have included defective work, long delays to complete houses, failure to fix faults or appear at tribunal hearings and failure to meet the tribunal's deadlines to finish homes.
Huxley Homes has been fined $27,000 in the first quarter of 2016 for failure to meet completion orders.
In a statement to SBS, Senator Day blamed previous management of Huxley Homes for the construction delays.
He said, "Our one and only objective is to build a good house, no matter how many mistakes are made along the way."
He added, "The appointment of new management in 2015 has addressed each of Huxley Homes' problems, and its future is bright, as befitting one of New South Wales' most reputable brands."
Electoral Commission records show Bob Day has provided Family First with political donations and loans worth more than two million dollars over the past five years.
Dr Bunt says she has been told Huxley Homes has financial problems.
"We've been advised directly by management at Huxley Homes that there's cash-flow issues. So it's galling to us to see Senator Day bankrolling his campaign yet we're still in a house that's unfinished."
But Senator Day has rejected any suggestion his company had financial problems and ruled out any connection between the company and Family First, calling it "totally false."
He voted with the Coalition to re-establish the Building and Construction Commission.
The failed bill proved the trigger for this week's double-dissolution election.
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