HOMEBUILDER PATCH UP JOB NOT ENOUGH TO SAVE TRADIES’ JOBS

After repeated calls from Labor, the Government today has finally announced changes to its flawed HomeBuilder Scheme.

For months we have said the scheme is too small and needs to be extended. 

We also called for the price cap in cities like Sydney to be lifted and the time to build to be extended. 

These changes will help, but they are still not enough to stop the housing construction industry shrinking. 

Last financial year 170,000 homes were built across Australia. This financial year the Housing Industry Association predict as few as 150,000 homes will now be built and Treasury currently predicts 140,000 homes will be built. 

These changes to the HomeBuilder Scheme are too small to bridge the difference. 

According to work done by Master Builders Australia this extension of the Scheme will only increase the number of homes built this financial year by up to 1,569. 

More needs to be done to save tradies’ jobs. 

The Morrison spin machine says they are extending the HomeBuilder Scheme because it has been so successful. 

The fact is they have to extend it because the original scheme was too small and was badly designed.

It is still too small to save all the jobs of the Australians who work in the residential construction industry. 

That’s why Labor and the housing industry is calling on the Federal Government to invest more now in social housing. 

It would be a win-win. It would create more work for tradies and put a roof over the head of Australians who really need it.