Interview with Jaimee Rogers, Sky News Australia

Event: Interview with Jaimee Rogers, Sky News Australia

Date: 12 July 2026, 7.40pm AEST
Speakers: Denita Wawn, Master Builders Australia CEO

Topics: Federal Budget impact on construction, tax increases on CGT and trusts, workforce shortages, skilled migration, domestic apprentices

E&OE

Jaimee Rogers, Sky News Australia host: Labor has promised 1.2 million new homes, but who’s going to build them? Australia is facing a chronic shortage of tradies. Apprenticeship numbers have fallen to a five-year low, and it comes as the Daily Telegraph revealed that while 71 per cent of permanent visas granted in 24/25 were classified as skilled visas. Just 33 per cent went to someone approved as skilled. Now, under the current system, tradies are on the third tier, so they’re the same as actors, animal handlers, and economists. Let’s bring in now Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn. Denita, thank you for joining me. The Government announced housing targets, but is anyone actually seriously looking at whether we have the workforce to build these homes?

Denita Wawn, Master Builders Australia CEO: We’re really frustrated at Master Builders that we’re getting inconsistent policies and announcements by the Federal Government and in sort of haphazard approaches by state and territory governments. The Government introduced the Key Apprentice Program a number of years ago, but in the latest Federal Budget, they have announced that they’ll have a drop down in those incentive payments in 2027. We’re seeing taxes on property that we’re forecasting will see a decline in trades being employed, and of course you’ve articulated that problem that we’ve had for a long time on skilled migration, where we’re simply not given a priority. So, it is really frustrating that one of the key reasons why we’re having problems building those houses that we desperately need is because we simply do not have the workforce required to fulfill those expectations.

Host: Well, Denita, let’s touch on skilled migration for a moment, because what I find really interesting is the ceiling intake of carpenters in the past two financial years was 1,481, but then the number of construction managers given skill visas that was capped at 1,200. Plumbers is capped at 1,000, whereas electronic tradies and cabinet makers and plasterers are capped at 500. And when you look at those numbers compared to what we desperately need here, it is terribly low. Surely, this needs an urgent overhaul.

Denita: Absolutely, we’ve been saying for years now that we need a separate tradie, fast-tracked visa pathway, similar to those that we’re competing against: New Zealand, the UK, and Canada. We simply are not getting enough people into this country with the skills that we actually need, and this is something that has been going on for years now. We’re continually saying to the Federal Government and to state and territory governments, when it comes to their regional focus on skilled migration, you are simply not doing enough. There are some exceptions. The South Australian Government has really doubled down on their focus in trying to get tradies into the country. But nevertheless, we’re still thwarted by a system that is just not reflective of the needs that we have in our community.

Host: And I’d want to touch on a little bit further on the tax changes that were announced in the budget just recently. What flow-on effect has that had for your industry in construction?

Denita: The industry is really up in arms. We had a Federal Government that gave us assurances in the last federal election that they would not make changes to capital gains tax on property, they would not make changes to negative gearing. But they broke that promise in the Federal Budget, and we’re already seeing investors come out of the market as a consequence. But there’s more: the decision to change the capacity for the self-managed super funds, not to be able to borrow on residential construction, we say this is going to create an equally difficult period upon which we’ll see a decline in property investment. And of course, we’re also seeing tax hikes on trusts and over 20 per cent of building and construction businesses rely on their business structures on trusts. So, there was a triple whammy of tax hikes in the Federal Budget that will have implications on our capacity to build and people to invest in property at a time where we can least afford it.

Host: And the other issue as well is it is at a time that we can least afford it. But the construction industry is also seeing record insolvencies for four consecutive years, about one quarter of all corporate insolvencies have come from the building sector. What is the main factor in construction that’s struggling to keep the doors open? Is it the cost? Is it all of the red tape? What is it that you would like to see changed as quickly as possible?

Denita: It’s unfortunately a combination of all of the things that you’ve just articulated. We see a situation upon which margins are tight in the building and construction industry, and when you see cost escalations that we’ve consistently seen over the last five years. 50 per cent increase in costs in construction since COVID, and we’ve seen those escalations just purely on transport levies as a consequence of diesel prices going up. So, builders are working on slim margins, and whenever you have cost escalations, whenever you have regulatory creep, then you have problems with people being able to stay in business. We applaud the decision, for example, to streamline the National Construction Code. Too little, too late, but more needs to be done. We’ve got a series of recommendations to the Federal Government on what they need to be doing, but at the moment, policy levers are going all over the place. In some instances, they’re being useful for the industry, in other instances, they’re going to draw us back and make our job harder. We want consistency by the Federal Government. We want consistency by all governments as we try and build not only houses but the roads, our hospitals, our schools, and of course, we’ve also got the Olympics as well.

Host: Well, Denita, I really appreciate your time tonight. We’ll get you back on again soon with an update.

Media contact: Dylan Hafey, Adviser, Media & Government Relations

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