1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,360
Speaker 1: Well, we have really been trying to break down the

2
00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:05,400
Speaker 1: budget this morning. And some good news for first home buyers.

3
00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:10,680
Speaker 1: The colp's Homegrown grant scheme extended for another year. Fifty

4
00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:13,880
Speaker 1: thousand dollar grants for the first time buyers to buy

5
00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:16,640
Speaker 1: or build and thirty thousand for people wanting to buy

6
00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:20,720
Speaker 1: another home will continue until the end of September twenty

7
00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,240
Speaker 1: twenty six. Now the Treasurer Bill Yan made that announcement

8
00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:27,840
Speaker 1: as I understand it, the Master Builders NTY and NTY

9
00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,920
Speaker 1: Chamber of Commerce Treasurer's budget luncheon yesterday, following on from

10
00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:36,120
Speaker 1: the handing down of the of the budget and joining

11
00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:41,040
Speaker 1: us in the studio, Master Builders NTIES Vice President Jim Dy,

12
00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:41,879
Speaker 1: Good morning to you.

13
00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:43,720
Speaker 2: Jim morning Katie. How are you Yeah?

14
00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:45,720
Speaker 1: Good, really good to have you on the show. Now

15
00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:50,560
Speaker 1: talk us through how you know how welcome this news

16
00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:51,720
Speaker 1: is from the government.

17
00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,200
Speaker 2: It's going to be very good for the community overall.

18
00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:01,560
Speaker 2: I think there was a significant increase in the application

19
00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:05,399
Speaker 2: rate for the houses to approximately forty eight percent. Part

20
00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,880
Speaker 2: of that was some deferrals from the potential change of

21
00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,360
Speaker 2: government and when the CEL people put that forward originally.

22
00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:16,360
Speaker 2: Now that's been really really well acknowledged by our industry,

23
00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,959
Speaker 2: particularly residential side. To have it now extended to September

24
00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,640
Speaker 2: just gives a whole industry at surety going forward to

25
00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:29,119
Speaker 2: ensure that those contra housing contractors have built their cruise

26
00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,600
Speaker 2: back up again, haven't had work in the last couple

27
00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:36,160
Speaker 2: of years, can now have surety going forward. The September mark.

28
00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,120
Speaker 2: I'd like to revisit that again in that time, but

29
00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:42,920
Speaker 2: it's also up to the government's money. It's available, I

30
00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:47,000
Speaker 2: believe the Treasurer said yes, that's spent in excess of

31
00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,280
Speaker 2: seven million towards those grants, which is a significant amount

32
00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:56,120
Speaker 2: of money. That funding will not only just help build houses,

33
00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:59,000
Speaker 2: but also increases population, which is something else that is

34
00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:01,160
Speaker 2: a key factor to economic growth.

35
00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,280
Speaker 1: It's sort of got a multiplier effect, I suppose in

36
00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:05,600
Speaker 1: a lot of ways, doesn't it. Because you know, somebody

37
00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:07,919
Speaker 1: making the decision to you know, to build a home

38
00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,040
Speaker 1: or to get into a home wanting to buy another one,

39
00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:13,720
Speaker 1: that's not the only sort of you know, that's not

40
00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:16,919
Speaker 1: the only person that's benefiting. It's benefiting the building industry.

41
00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:21,520
Speaker 1: It's benefiting you know, those suppliers, absolutely everybody in the industry.

42
00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,079
Speaker 2: I would imagine yeah, So the multiplying factor is approximately

43
00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,440
Speaker 2: one point seven. Is the very ten dollars spending in

44
00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,400
Speaker 2: the constructions you seventeen dollars generated everywhere else throughout the economy.

45
00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:37,080
Speaker 2: So supporting the infrastructure is a very good outcome from

46
00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:37,919
Speaker 2: the Selpie government.

47
00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,640
Speaker 1: Now I know you said that, well, I think you

48
00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:43,840
Speaker 1: said a figure of forty eight percent. So those building

49
00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:46,720
Speaker 1: approvals up forty eight percent? Is that correct? Yes? I

50
00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:49,040
Speaker 1: believe so, yess, yeah, I mean that seems like quite

51
00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,280
Speaker 1: a lot that is over the year to march. Do

52
00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:55,799
Speaker 1: you attribute that to those grants?

53
00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,360
Speaker 2: That's the significant part. I also believe that there's some

54
00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:04,000
Speaker 2: confidence going forward about land availability. Another key part of

55
00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:10,000
Speaker 2: the infrastructure budget was infrastructure spend for Holtz and kill Gareth.

56
00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,000
Speaker 2: It's another area but I can't call that. But what

57
00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:16,680
Speaker 2: that will do is provide a viable land for developers

58
00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:20,160
Speaker 2: to create home lots and continue it on. So it's

59
00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:25,000
Speaker 2: a two fold approach. I believe money to the homeowners

60
00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,520
Speaker 2: to buy and sadly, the construction costs are higher than

61
00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:30,800
Speaker 2: we would all like them to be, even though being

62
00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:34,280
Speaker 2: in the construction industry, we'd all like to see the

63
00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:38,560
Speaker 2: construction costs lower. We'd have more turnover, but that grant

64
00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,920
Speaker 2: gives those homeowners the opportunity would not otherwise got into

65
00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,760
Speaker 2: the market. And secondly to provide infrastructure and then potential

66
00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,640
Speaker 2: developments to put the houses on, keeps people in the

67
00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:53,119
Speaker 2: territory as well. Grows our population.

68
00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,600
Speaker 1: And that's what we all want, right like everybody that's here,

69
00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:57,440
Speaker 1: we're here for the long haul, or most of us.

70
00:03:57,480 --> 00:03:59,600
Speaker 1: We want the population to grow. We want the place

71
00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,960
Speaker 1: to be thriving, and you know, really having a strong

72
00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:06,880
Speaker 1: construction industry is a huge part of that. How are

73
00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,200
Speaker 1: things going more generally from your perspective at this point.

74
00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:15,520
Speaker 2: I think overall the construction industry, there's sort of two

75
00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:18,400
Speaker 2: sectors of the commercial sector in the residential sector, so

76
00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,479
Speaker 2: the grants is the residential sector. The commercial side of

77
00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,000
Speaker 2: things has been supported by defense, which is not really

78
00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:29,640
Speaker 2: part of the budget, but defense and then just general

79
00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:35,240
Speaker 2: consumer confidence. I think that with the federal election and

80
00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:38,880
Speaker 2: now this budget of ours, things will settle down a

81
00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:43,880
Speaker 2: little bit. The private sector will know where the anti

82
00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,400
Speaker 2: government is going, where the money is being spent, and

83
00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:49,520
Speaker 2: with some luck, will start to invest themselves in the

84
00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:54,599
Speaker 2: private sector. We do need more residential apartments built. That's

85
00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:59,240
Speaker 2: something that may be impacted by this budget general general

86
00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:03,359
Speaker 2: spending th from the infrastructure, the government was spending approximately

87
00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:07,320
Speaker 2: two billion on civil infrastructure, which was our major road

88
00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:11,080
Speaker 2: networks and infrastructure which we all know needs needs upgrading

89
00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,600
Speaker 2: and maintaining. Without that, we don't connect and we don't communicate.

90
00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:17,960
Speaker 2: I believe a lot of that funding was previous agreements

91
00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,560
Speaker 2: that you knowment the government as a whole has to

92
00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:26,480
Speaker 2: carry over. There was approximately two point three billion towards

93
00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,240
Speaker 2: other infrastructure, spending Around eight hundred million of that was

94
00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:35,520
Speaker 2: towards housing, large proportion communities, but still a lot of

95
00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:40,400
Speaker 2: money is to be committed to the major centers, and

96
00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:46,160
Speaker 2: then obviously, as the previous interview, money towards health. The

97
00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:52,279
Speaker 2: biggest spend other than the housing was towards public safety

98
00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:58,040
Speaker 2: and order order, and we are as the master builders,

99
00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:02,200
Speaker 2: we're looking forward to see exactly how that will be spent.

100
00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:08,279
Speaker 2: I think that the way the current government's intending to

101
00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:12,039
Speaker 2: spend that money is to spread it further and further

102
00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:17,120
Speaker 2: and wider, smaller amounts too much more projects obviously have

103
00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:23,080
Speaker 2: their agenda lifestyle, law and order and so on. I

104
00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:26,680
Speaker 2: think that might be beneficial to out the Master Builders

105
00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:30,720
Speaker 2: members and probably the community is a much wider community.

106
00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:37,279
Speaker 2: You know, you have ten builders doing twenty jobs. It

107
00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:42,160
Speaker 2: spreads the load to smaller subcontractors, more suppliers, more homes,

108
00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,680
Speaker 2: more families, more kids. It gets back to the grassroots.

109
00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:50,440
Speaker 2: And so I think that's what the budget will inject

110
00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:51,760
Speaker 2: into industry.

111
00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:53,240
Speaker 1: And hopefully be a positive thing. One of the other

112
00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:55,880
Speaker 1: things that has been discussed abish over the last couple

113
00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,200
Speaker 1: of days, and certainly the Treasurer had touched on this

114
00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:01,560
Speaker 1: in his speech yesterday and this morning when we'd interviewed him,

115
00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:04,840
Speaker 1: is the cost blowouts on some of those major projects.

116
00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:08,239
Speaker 1: I guess it's difficult in some ways because we've seen

117
00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:12,440
Speaker 1: the cost of various supplies go up astronomically. I mean

118
00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:14,360
Speaker 1: you touched on this before. The amount that it costs

119
00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,360
Speaker 1: to build a home ten years ago is very different

120
00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:19,600
Speaker 1: to what it is now. Do you think there should

121
00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,320
Speaker 1: sort of be I don't know, like maybe some tightening

122
00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:25,800
Speaker 1: in terms of the scoping of works when the government

123
00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:28,840
Speaker 1: sort of sees they're going to be doing a project

124
00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:31,240
Speaker 1: and then they I don't know how quickly after they

125
00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:33,240
Speaker 1: go out to tender, but when we're seeing some of

126
00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,120
Speaker 1: these huge cost blowouts. Is there ways that it could

127
00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:39,720
Speaker 1: maybe just be managed differently so that then you know

128
00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:40,680
Speaker 1: that's not happening.

129
00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,080
Speaker 2: So the industry's been through a very difficult time and

130
00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:48,400
Speaker 2: I know that COVID's a long way, long way back.

131
00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:52,200
Speaker 2: But as the world is, a price goes up, a

132
00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:54,360
Speaker 2: price days you don't see it going down.

133
00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:57,200
Speaker 1: Oh Unfortunately, we all wish at the moment.

134
00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:03,480
Speaker 2: And we have, you know, some resource issues. Skills is

135
00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:07,280
Speaker 2: one thing, and then the resources to support those skills.

136
00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:11,120
Speaker 2: So as a commercial commercial billder myself and not involved

137
00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:13,920
Speaker 2: with those larger projects, I feel for both the anti

138
00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:18,400
Speaker 2: government and the contractors involved. It's very hard to put

139
00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:23,280
Speaker 2: a cap on the costs. We're all sharing the same

140
00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:30,080
Speaker 2: resources at the moment, and the government, I know firsthand,

141
00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,400
Speaker 2: works very very hard to come up with the initial budget.

142
00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:36,000
Speaker 2: I know they do their very best, but the true

143
00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,480
Speaker 2: budget is the commercial. When you go out to market

144
00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,959
Speaker 2: and you get priced subcontractors, you think something's worth ten

145
00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:45,480
Speaker 2: dollars and it was and it was last week, it

146
00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:46,360
Speaker 2: is now worth.

147
00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:50,040
Speaker 1: Goes up in an astronomical amount. Busy man, Jim, everyone's

148
00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:52,880
Speaker 1: trying to get ahold of you.

149
00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:57,679
Speaker 2: On you so I think the way forward for the government. Now,

150
00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:02,160
Speaker 2: I'm going to trust that the the cost escalations as

151
00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:06,920
Speaker 2: plataud we're finding materials are leveling out. I believe that

152
00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:12,040
Speaker 2: we definitely need our population to grow to support support

153
00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:15,720
Speaker 2: the construction industry, but also the training. Know, the government's

154
00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:20,320
Speaker 2: budget also put money towards training. It offered a significant

155
00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:25,240
Speaker 2: saving for payroll tax for those medium sized builders and

156
00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:27,679
Speaker 2: that will be of a great benefit. Part of that

157
00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,280
Speaker 2: was a concession for apprentices. So all of you out

158
00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:33,959
Speaker 2: there today, you know, please employ more apprentices that they're

159
00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,720
Speaker 2: our future. Without our future, our cost is going to

160
00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:40,960
Speaker 2: go up. Honestly, that's the only way I can see it.

161
00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,400
Speaker 1: So well, Jim, it's been really good to catch up

162
00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:45,400
Speaker 1: with you this morning. I appreciate you joining me in

163
00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:47,800
Speaker 1: the studio and talking us through you know, that budget

164
00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:52,400
Speaker 1: from Master Builders perspective Master Builders and to Vice President

165
00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:54,959
Speaker 1: Jim Edie, thank you so much for your time this morning.

166
00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:56,160
Speaker 1: Thank you, Katie, thank you