Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) reform is required to retain workers in the building and construction industry; and

(b) Master Builders Australia has reported that there is a critical workforce shortage, with a 14.7 per cent decrease in the number of construction industry apprentices completing their studies since 2022, and the total number of construction apprentices also decreasing by 22.4 per cent for the same period; and

(2) acknowledges that the:

(a) Government has delivered a business insolvency crisis, with over 23,938 business insolvencies since taking office, including over 6,399 construction business insolvencies;

(b) Government's Fee Free TAFE program has delivered a 13 per cent completion rate to date and the Government has refused to reveal the dropout rate;

(c) Government is failing Australian businesses and the construction sector; and

(d) Opposition's Housing Infrastructure Program aims to deliver up to 500,000 additional homes and contribute to the growth in employment in the building and construction industry by direct employment to residential development infrastructure.

As we stand here in this chamber today, once again we're debating an issue that the government has failed to address. We see, each and every day, Australia's need for more building and construction workers. We know that there are not enough workers joining the industry each year to keep up with demand, and this is putting significant pressure on the workforce at a time when Australia is experiencing a housing and construction crisis. In its September 2024 report The future of the workforce: the building and construction industry, Master Builders Australia reported that since 2022 there has been a 14.7 per cent decrease in the number of construction industry apprentices completing their studies, and the total number of construction apprentices has decreased by some 22½ per cent for the same period. We all know that, to be able to keep up with current and future demand, the industry needs net growth of around 10 per cent per annum over the next five years. That's about 130,000 people who need to join the building and construction workforce. The Master Builders Australia report goes on to say that two of the key things they see that could happen to facilitate this would be simplifying the process by which skilled migrants can apply for a visa and including migrants skilled in the building and construction industry on the Core Skills Occupation List. Jobs and Schools Australia also noted that the replacement rate for construction related occupations is amongst the lowest in the labour market and has declined significantly, to 54 per cent in the 2020-21 financial year.

We hear the government talk a good game, but once again this Labor government is failing Australian businesses and the construction sector. When the National Housing Accord goal was announced, the Labor government pledged an additional contribution of $15,000 for each home built beyond one million homes, but Australia has never delivered 1.2 million homes in any five-year period. The closest was in 2014 under the then Abbott government, when a total of 1.1 million new dwellings were commenced. We have seen this government also preside over a business insolvency crisis across the construction industry, with nearly 6,400 construction business insolvencies in its term of government.

These insolvencies and the continued workforce shortages in the building and construction workforce result in nearly 73,000 fewer workers and the loss of some 13,000 new home buildings, a decrease in building construction output totalling some $7.7 billion and a $57 billion reduction in GDP. Masters Builders Australia recently released an analysis showing the latest build times. It found that 15 years ago it took an average of nine months to build a standalone home. This has blown out to 12 months, an increase of over 40 per cent, making it even more difficult to meet the government's ambitious housing targets.

In comparison, a coalition government would strongly focus on skills funding would but also ensure that students have a choice because we have seen with the government's free TAFE bill that students don't have a choice because they support only one section of the skills and training industry. We know, from the statistics, that students in the private sector have a better outcome in terms of jobs and skills and training, so why is the government only picking one sector of the training industry to support, not the whole industry? In addition, our housing infrastructure program seeks to support workers on the ground by assisting in the infrastructure that housing needs—water, power, sewerage and access roads. We're not limiting the policy just to housing. It's much broader than that.

Finally, Australians deserve the sound economic management that a coalition government would deliver, not the economic mismanagement that this Labor government is inflicting on Australians each and every day.

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