Centre Alliance SA Senator Rex Patrick has announced plans to reintroduce a bill to ban the entry of flammable cladding materials into the country when Parliament resumes.

The Customs Amendment (Safer Cladding) Bill 2017 was introduced by former senator Nick Xenophon after a Senate Economics Committee Inquiry into non-conforming building products was completed.

But the bill was opposed by Coalition senators and lapsed at the May general election.

“I’m re-introducing Nick Xenophon’s cladding bill into the Parliament when we go back,” he announced yesterday on his Facebook page. “The bill, if passed into law, would prevent the importation of cladding products containing flammable polyethylene core aluminium composite panels.”

“Despite some Liberals expressing concerns about a ban breaching World Trade Organisation rules or harming the signage industry, I am putting people’s lives well ahead of those issues.”

The insurance industry has long pushed for a consistent rectification strategy to deal with buildings with flammable cladding materials. The ongoing cladding crisis is a major trigger behind the sharp rise in premiums and the introduction of restrictive policies.