- No products in the cart.
Event: Doorstop, Mural Hall APH
Date: 13 April 2025, 2:45pm AEST
Speakers: Denita Wawn, CEO Master Builders Australia
Topics: Government and Opposition Housing Announcements
E&OE
Denita Wawn, CEO Master Builders Australia: Today, both parties at their campaign launches, have set the battle lines on housing with quite different approaches for first home buyers to consider how they purchase their new home and how governments will be able to assist. We know at Master Builders that there is a housing crisis in this country. It is the key issue impacting the cost-of-living in Australia at the moment. 70% of Australians, with Master Builders research, have said to us that the federal government needs to lead us out of this crisis, which is why housing policy is such a critical component at this federal election. Master Builders Australia is calling on something very simple: More Homes for Aussies.
Today, we saw policies for first-home buyers from both major parties. This is a good step to help those getting into the housing market, and the Coalition probably has edged ahead in that policy because it is a broader perspective of people than that of the ALP. However, first home buyers are not the only investor in the housing market. Whether we have existing homeowners, whether we have property investors providing supply for the rental market, institutional investors or governments as investors, they are all saying the same thing: the cost of housing is too high. And in fact, housing costs have risen by over 40% over the last five years. So, we have massive demand for investment in our industry to build more homes, but unfortunately, it’s not being fully realised because the cost of housing is too high.
So, Master Builders Australia today commends both parties in re-establishing housing as a central theme in this federal election, but we ask for more. Why are we asking for more? Because we want to maximise our capacity to deliver those homes for all Australians. What do we need to do that? We need more people. We need skilled people to do the job. One of the reasons the costs are so high is simply we are taking too long to build because we don’t have enough skilled people. So, we ask and continue to stress the importance of apprenticeships. We ask, and no party has yet to respond to our request for a fast-tracked tradie visa. We also need more support for people entering into the industry. Enough is enough around the focus on university education, more needs to be done to encourage people into a trade qualification. We also need better processes to streamline planning approvals, and that includes more people to help get approvals undertaken. Our local government is crying out for building surveyors and planners; they need support, too, to resolve these bottlenecks. We also need more critical infrastructure, and we also need to ensure that we have a fit-for-purpose building regulation system that does not put undue complexity and costs into the system. So, from a Master Builder’s perspective, this is a good campaign launch from both parties, but more needs to be done. Both parties have got three weeks to step up and provide the industry certainty about how we can do our bit and deliver these homes to resolve the housing crisis.
Journalist: Do either of the parties, do they have a plan to address workforce shortages?
Denita: Both parties have taken a piecemeal approach to workforce shortages. We have seen some support for apprentices, but only the Liberal Party has provided support to employers of apprentices. We need more support when it comes to mentoring apprentices. Our biggest issue at the moment is that only 50 per cent of apprentices complete their trade qualification. So, we need more in that space. We also are competing against the likes of the UK, Canada and New Zealand on skilled trades migrants. They have fast tracked with specialist tradie visas. We do not, and in fact, we make it incredibly difficult to actually get to Australia if you’re a trade qualified worker, despite the fact you are very well paid. So, we are asking both parties to consider our request for a tradie skilled, fast-tracked visa like our competitors are doing elsewhere in the international market. And, of course, we need to encourage more people to stay in the industry. This is going to be critical for us to ensure that we have the capacity to deliver all of these homes.
Journalist: Do you have a preferred housing policy, or do you think both parties need to do better? Do you have a preference?
Denita: At the moment, Master Builders is of the view that if you look at the housing policies in total from both the Coalition and the ALP, things are neck and neck. They’ve got lots of components, but they haven’t completed the puzzle of resolving the housing crisis. There is more to be done. And so, we are imploring both the Coalition and the ALP to look at the totality of the housing issues to ensure that we have all the policies in place that we have asked for through our More Homes for Aussies campaign. It is critical that they look at completing the puzzle because otherwise, this housing crisis will not be resolved.
Thanks, everyone.
Media contact: Dee Zegarac, National Director, Media & Public Affairs
0400 493 071 | dee.zegarac@masterbuilders.com.au