Australian building sector knocked down by budget

Tonight's Federal Budget has delivered spending cuts across the board, many impacting on Australia’s residential building industry, said the Housing Industry Association.

While it is framed in the context of addressing the budget deficit, this will be at the expense of "a number of worthwhile programs", notes the HIA.

“The residential building sector has only just begun to play a pivotal role in driving the economy as the nation transitions away from mining led growth. The recovery in new home building has been highly dependent on demand generated from the household sector. Maintaining and improving consumer sentiment remains a priority,” explained Mr Wolfe.

“The abolition of the National Workforce Development fund, among other training programs, is unfortunate. While the programs are a legacy of the former government, the objectives are not inconsistent with this government’s objective of creating a productive workforce. The funds have been reallocated through the establishment of the Industry Skills Fund, although the fund has a much narrower focus on a few select industries."

“The establishment of the Trade Support Loan scheme represents a significant development. The scheme enables apprentices to borrow up to $20,000 throughout the duration of their apprenticeship, on loan terms comparable with those available to university students under the Higher Education Loan Programme. However, the decision to restrict access to only those undertaking apprenticeships in trades on the National Skills Needs list should be revisited,” continued Mr Wolfe.

“The abandonment the final round of the National Rental Affordability Scheme is disappointing. The scheme has resulted in thousands of affordable homes for low and moderate income households, increased Australia’s housing stock and generated countless jobs the process,” added Mr Wolfe.

“The commitment to infrastructure investment and delivery in the budget is to be commended. However, the extension of that investment to support the delivery of new housing is missing from the budget,” he concluded.