21 April 2020
A RECENT COVID-19 impact survey warns of the looming crisis facing the building industry that will impact Queensland’s building industry far beyond the current impacts of COVID-19.
Master Builders CEO, Grant Galvin said that while lockdown restrictions have already started to bite for the industry, the true impact is yet to be felt; but this could be mitigated with swift and decisive action from the Queensland Government.
“We have been pushing for a number of weeks now for Australian and Queensland Governments to consider stimulus measures that go beyond the current relief packages and these latest survey results only reinforce our calls,” Mr Galvin said.
“Nationally, the industry is facing thousands of job losses and a significant reduction in building activity, while in Queensland, builders and tradies are set to run out of new work in the next few months if nothing is done.
“Ironically, right now the industry has been fortunate to remain open and is facing no major product supply issues or COVID-19 related delays; but it’s the lack of confidence that’s starting to creep in and the state of building activity before COVID-19 even hit that are a concern.”
Building activity figures show Queensland sitting at 31,100 commencements to December 2019 – which represents a drop of 26.5% on the same period in 2018. Many businesses were already struggling on the back of a slow 2019.
“We know the Queensland Government is aware of just how vital an employer we are – the job losses and impact on small business would send catastrophic waves through the community, particularly in the face of the job losses we’ve already seen in hospitality and retail,” Mr Galvin added.
“We want to safeguard thousands of jobs and small businesses and we’re calling on the Queensland Government to supercharge and fast-track their stimulus measures even further.
“Let’s get creative with a new look grant to boost new home builds, a program to fund home renovations to make homes more energy efficient and bring forward public spending on buildings, like schools and hospitals.
“Measures such as these will help bring back confidence for consumers and businesses and hopefully turn the tide on the current wave of contract and tender cancellations or withdrawals.
“This situation is dangerous. At risk is the viability of nearly 78,000 building and construction businesses, the jobs of 247,000 Queenslanders and the industry’s capacity to aid the economic recovery.
“The experience from past downturns in Queensland’s building industry over the past forty years could see a 45 percent decline in work, which takes us to a level not seen in the thirty-six years that dwelling starts have been counted.
“We understand the enormity of the challenge the government faces, but these stimulus measures cannot wait.”
Stimulus measures
We strongly back the current measures to support businesses and jobs and are calling on all governments to urgently rollout new stimulus measures that will immediately kick-start building activity.
- Increasing the size of the First Home Owners’ Grant and expanding its eligibility to include anyone ready to purchase a new home.
- Bring back the Household Resilience Program to create work for the residential renovation sector and deliver long-term benefits for the community. The program (which ran from July 2018 – November 2019) was a resounding success in improving the resilience of 1,748 homes in cyclone-impacted regions from Bundaberg to Cairns, as well as delivering significant insurance benefit to homeowners.
Increase government capital expenditure on public buildings, with the initial focus on refurbishments and maintenance to get the projects moving quickly. And accelerate spending on existing budgeted projects.
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Julie Russell, Manager Communications & Media via email or 3225 6436
Leah Kidd, Communications Advisor via email or 3225 6424
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