Interview with Sally Sara, ABC Radio National Breakfast

Event: Interview with Sally Sara, ABC Radio National Breakfast

Date: 1 May 2026, 6.40am AEST
Speakers: Denita Wawn, CEO Master Builders Australia

Topics: Middle East conflict, building material increases, federal budget, workforce, enabling infrastructure, regulation, National Construction Code, tax incentives

E&OE

Sally Sara, ABC Radio National Breakfast Host: Denita Wawn is the CEO of Master Builders Australia and joins me now. Denita, welcome back to breakfast.

Denita Wawn, CEO Master Builders Australia: Thank you, good morning.

Host: How concerning is this latest inflation data for the construction industry? What story is it telling us do you think?

Denita: It’s one that’s been unfortunately creeping up on us since COVID. Before the Middle East conflict, we’ve seen an escalation of construction of our homes of up to 50 per cent over the last five years. It’s not just our homes, but it’s all construction. So, when you put the overlay of the cost increases that we’re now seeing, which is anywhere adding the cost of building a home between eight to 10 per cent, that’s what we’re forecasting, that we’re in serious strife in terms of our ability to build because people are simply not willing to pay with those significant escalations.

Host: So, what’s driving those cost escalations? Is it regulation, which we’ve been told is part of the picture? Is it materials? labour? How do you piece it all together Denita?

Denita: Yeah, it’s everything, unfortunately, and that is why a holistic approach around resolving housing supply is so critical. Regulation is an absolutely critical component of it. With a massive issue is also a lack of skilled people in the workforce. BuildSkills Australia has estimated that we need another 115,000 people in the industry to build residential buildings alone, another about 250,000 to do all the infrastructure work. So, we’re also significantly constrained, which is adding costs. Building materials have steadily increased, and the industry is alarmed at the escalation that we’re seeing at the moment in prices that we say is over and beyond what would have been expected in terms of these inflationary increases due to the cost of the conflict. And I think finally, the other issue is also around just the slowness of approvals around the country, and that is why planning reform is so critical as well.

Host: … What lever can the government pull to make this problem go away when it comes to escalating housing prices Denita?

Denita: Well, it’s making sure, first and foremost, that all levers are pointing in the same direction, and that direction must be taking away supply impediments and not decreasing incentive to invest in property. So, for us, this is about deregulation. We saw, for example, the interim reporting to the National Construction Code come out yesterday saying that it’s not fit for purpose. That document for housing construction has gone from 90 pages in 1990 to now 900 pages, which is just simply unfathomable for a builder to be able to understand the quagmire that it is. We also desperately need skilled migration levers to be fixed. There is simply not enough focus on trade skills people coming into this country to build what we need. We also need to ensure that there is incentives for people to invest, and that means we continue to say, do not change property investment tax incentives because it will reduce supply. So, there’s a range of things that need to be done, including those three critical ones. The other big one, of course, is enabling infrastructure. We can’t build homes if we don’t have sewerage, we don’t have water connections, electricity connections, or roads into new suburbs. So, also additional funding in that area is also really important.

Host: Denita, well, thank you very much for being my guest this morning.

Denita: Thank you.

Media contact: Dylan Hafey, Media Advisor

0497 330 064 |  dylan.hafey@masterbuilders.com.au