The most wicked thing about the timeshare or “vacation ownership” industry is its “Hotel Californian” insistence that once someone signs up – having been lured to one of those dazzling audiovisual hard-sell presentations by the promise of a free holiday – they can never leave.

They’re locked in for life; historically forced by the threat of legal action to pay ever-increasing annual levies even if they’re too old or disabled to go on holiday, or forced to “forgo essential living needs” such as medical cover to pay those levies.

In 2018 the National Consumer Commission (NCC) launched a public inquiry into the industry, hosting public hearings across the country, and it was in those hotel conference rooms that the harrowing stories unfolded...