By Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia. This article appeared in The Australian on 14 April 2025.
Australians are doing it tough. As the cost of living continues to climb, housing remains the single biggest pressure point for families across the country.
Whether you’re buying your first home, looking to rent, or waiting for social housing, the biggest barrier is a lack of supply.
Australians need more housing – full stop. There is a willingness to invest in housing but it’s become too expensive, and for too many families the dream of homeownership has become out of reach.
This election, Master Builders is campaigning on a simple message: More Homes for Aussies. That means smashing supply barriers and doing more to help aspiring homeowners.
Both the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader had housing as the core of the campaign launches yesterday which builds on existing policies.
And rightly so, a staggering 70 per cent of Australians believe the Federal Government must take the lead in addressing the crisis and that measures to date have not been sufficient.
Both parties have put forward proposals to support first home buyers – importantly, with a focus on new builds, which is crucial for increasing overall supply.
The Coalition plans to give first home buyers (with an income cap) the ability to deduct interest payments of a mortgage up to $650,000 from their personal tax. This is a tax cut that will help increase the borrowing capacity of aspiring homeowners. They have also sought to expand the deposit guarantee but with an income cap.
The ALP plans to expand deposit guarantees with no income cap and use $10 billion to unlock 100,000 new homes for first home buyers.
It’s up to first home buyers to work out which policies are more favourable to them as it will depend on individual circumstances, but initial analysis would put the Coalition slightly ahead.
But investment alone doesn’t build homes. We also need the capacity to deliver. And that’s where things become more complicated.
Costs have soared 40 per cent in five years due to inflation, material prices, interest rates, workforce shortages, planning delays, regulatory burdens, infrastructure gaps, and industrial relations constraints.
It’s easy to see why it’s become too expensive and too hard to get housing projects off the ground.
On the workforce front, both parties have made announcements on apprenticeships. Here, the Coalition has the edge by committing to employer incentives. But much more needs to be done. We need to restore pride and aspiration in the trades. We need school leavers to see construction as a rewarding and respected career.
And when we can’t train quickly enough to meet demand, we must bring in skilled workers from overseas. Other countries have fast-tracked visas for tradies, and Australia should too. Yet disappointingly, neither major party has picked up this call.
Planning reform is another crucial piece of the puzzle. The ALP has undertaken the planning blueprint with the states, which is critical for removing bottlenecks with no corresponding plan from the Coalition as yet.
When it comes to enabling infrastructure, things like roads, sewerage, power, and water connections that unlock land for housing are desperately needed. Both parties are committing funding but the Coalition is ahead on dollars pledged. But dollars must translate into delivery.
The Productivity Commission has rightly called for a review of the National Construction Code. The Coalition has committed to a pause and review. We are waiting to hear a response from the ALP.
And finally, no conversation about productivity can ignore industrial relations. Here again, the Coalition has the more favourable approach, although we do not support their move to deregulate the CFMEU. We need IR settings that support cooperation and efficiency on building sites, not more conflict or confusion.
The ALP has committed to the Housing Australia Future Fund for social housing but the Coalition has called for an abolition of HAFF without funding for social housing. A significant gap in their housing policy.
The upshot on housing policy at this stage of the race is it’s currently neck and neck. Both have a clear vision for voters on housing policies.
We are far from the finish line. Both have work to do if they want to complete the jigsaw puzzle that is our national housing crisis.
With three weeks remaining in the campaign, we’ll be watching closely. The next Federal Government must put housing at the centre of its economic and social agenda because until we fix housing, we won’t fix the cost of living crisis.
Until we fix the barriers to supply, we won’t build the homes Australia needs.
