Already a subscriber?Labor’s union-friendly industrial relations laws will cause Australia to fall short of national housing targets for four of the next five years, industry has told the Albanese government, urging fixes to state planning rules and an urgent boost to the skilled workforce.
Materials prices are more than 30 per cent higher than before the pandemic, and total construction costs have risen by almost 40 per cent since 2019.The warning comes as Australian Bureau of Statistics data on Monday showed mortgages for the construction of new homes fell to a five-month low in February.
“Workforce shortages continue to be the biggest challenge for the industry across all sectors,” Ms Wawn said. “At a federal level, the government’s priority should be growing the building and construction workforce. “We don’t deal with industrial relations on a day-to-day basis. But we are hearing from our builders that we do use that they are concerned that there are costs coming through the system over the next couple of years,” Mr Berry said.