More evidence HomeBuilder is not enough

Up to 42,000 Australians who work in the construction industry will lose their jobs this financial year, according to the Australian Construction Industry Forum.
 
Updated forecasts reveal that the construction industry, which employs one in ten Australian workers, “is still being hammered by COVID downturn” and construction of houses and apartments will not return to peak pre-pandemic levels until the middle of the decade.
 
This should not come as a surprise to the Morrison Government.
 
For months, the construction industry and Treasury have warned residential construction will fall this financial year and when fewer homes are built, jobs will be lost.
 
All of these forecasts from Treasury and the construction industry factor in the HomeBuilder Scheme.
 
This new report is more evidence that HomeBuilder is too small to stop tradies in the housing construction industry from losing their jobs.
 
The scheme needs to be extended but this alone is not enough. More needs to be done to save tradie jobs.
 
When private demand for housing drops it makes sense for government to invest more in social housing.
 
Instead, the Morrison Government has ignored a stack of warnings* from housing industry, Treasury and Labor to invest more money in social housing.
 
For every dollar invested in construction, three dollars is created for the broader economy. We are in a recession – this investment makes sense.
 
Labor has repeatedly called on the Morrison Government to put together a comprehensive housing stimulus plan, which should include investing half a billion dollars to fast-track urgent repairs to social housing. This would create work for thousands of tradies in almost every suburb and town.
 
Repairs could start almost immediately, providing work for local plumbers, chippies, sparkies, plasterers and painters as well as companies that manufacture building supplies and materials. This would also provide opportunities for apprentices.

* A STACK OF WARNINGS:

FRIDAY, 6 NOVEMBER 2020
 
MEDIA CONTACT: ARLEY BLACK 02 9790 2466