23 May 2024
Master Builders is speaking the home truths shared by Queenslanders, calling on all sides of politics to better support the building and construction industry to grow the state for the good of all.
The peak industry body hit the road earlier this year, speaking to more than 1500 people across the state to get their thoughts on what their main concerns are leading up to the Queensland election on 26 October.
Master Builders CEO Paul Bidwell said unsurprisingly, housing was among the top three.
“To put it simply, people aren’t happy,” Mr Bidwell said.
“Nine out of ten told us they think the government should be doing more to fix the housing crisis. They supported a roll back of red tape, to help provide more affordable housing, faster.
“Three out of five of those surveyed also said they wanted reduced costs and more choice, via the removal of unnecessary regulations.
“But they also told us whinging or finger-pointing won’t help – they know that getting on with the job will.”
Off the back of these results, Mr Bidwell said Master Builders was putting forward its plan for progress, to get housing back on track in Queensland.
“There are already positive steps being taken by government, such as increased investment in social housing. The additional fee-free training places announced earlier this week will also assist with addressing the current labour shortage, which will hopefully convert to more people completing their courses and boost the number of boots on the ground. However, there is other low-hanging fruit ripe for the picking,” he said.
“Over the last few months, we have been meeting with government and key stakeholders to discuss the issues concerning our industry right now, and to offer the solutions we’re calling on the next elected government to support us on.
“We need to roll back the unwarranted changes to the National Construction Code 2022, specifically the new accessibility and energy efficiency requirements. While inclusivity and sustainability are important to our communities, these changes are driving up the cost of new housing without a sufficient benefit.
“It’s clear that project trust accounts should be scrapped. They simply do not work – they don’t protect payments in insolvency. They are a complex, costly and unnecessary regulatory overlay to numerous other security of payment protections for subcontractors. If they are rolled out to private projects of $3 million and then $1 million, this could kill many small businesses.
“The Best Practice Industry Conditions (BPICs) must be applied in a way that is flexible, enabling greater productivity on construction sites, without compromising worker safety or building quality. We maintain that the conditions are making large unit developments and essential government infrastructure projects too expensive to build, owing to reduced productivity.
“This is not about cutting corners or undermining worker conditions, including pay. We simply need more flexibility to drive costs down, and to ensure projects go ahead.”
Further calls include for the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) to work better for and with industry through measures such as speeding up the licence application process and creating an online option for builder and trade contractor applicants, and scrapping duplicate safety reporting notifications and investigations.
Master Builders has already chalked up an advocacy win on this point, with the QBCC last week introducing an updated booking service with its subject matter experts to improve engagement with licensees.
The creation of a state-wide mandatory housing code to streamline planning rules would also help speed things up at a local government level.
“The election might still be five months away, but in the midst of the existing crisis, there’s no time to waste – these home truths must be heard now,” Mr Bidwell said.
“We are calling on all sides of politics to better support our industry by removing the roadblocks that are preventing us from getting on with the job for the good of every Queenslander.”
To read Master Builders’ Home Truths, head to www.mbqld.com.au/hometruths
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