Porters Mitre 10’s Greg Porter says pressure on building supplies is good for Mackay

Some in the construction industry are worrying about a ‘perfect boom bust-bubble’ but the pressure is paying dividends for Mackay.

Porters Mitre 10 joint general manager Greg Porter, speaking a think tank to revive Mackay's city centre, along with other business leaders across the region. Picture: Heidi Petith

A business leader has hit back at claims the construction industry is in crisis, saying the pressure on supplies is a boon for Mackay.

It follows HomeBuilder, which was tipped to attract 27,000 applications, insofar receiving more than 121,000 nationwide.

Adding to the pressure was people flocking to Queensland for a lifestyle change amid the Covid-19 pandemic and a boom in construction worldwide.

Despite a Master Builders industry survey showing members were concerned about a “perfect boom-bust bubble”, Porters Mitre 10 joint general manager Greg Porter said he was confident the Mackay business could keep up with demand.

Mr Porter said the business was using all available supply lines to meet the “unprecedented” level of building approvals.

“I’m supplying more product than I’ve ever had to supply in a very long time,” Mr Porter said.

He said the pressure on building materials was amplified by an “excessive amount” of construction activity nationwide.

“In the past, we’ve never had these challenges,” Mr Porter said.

“We’ve never seen every state in Australia in a very strong position construction-activity wise.

“There’s always been one or two states that aren’t in a growth period.”

The Shoal Point Development, to be known as Pappy's Beach, spans 94 hectares at the end of Hodges Rd. It is one of many developments under way in Mackay at the moment. Picture: Heidi Petith, June 2, 2021.

Mr Porter said the building buzz was industry-wide affecting the home renovation, residential and commercial sectors with some builders reaching record levels of output.

“We’ve also seen I think, Mackay was already showing strong economic recovery prior to the (Covid-19) pandemic,” he said.

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There has been 679 construction projects approved so far this year across Mackay and the Whitsundays, a Master Builders report showed, compared to 691 for the whole of 2020.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said the HomeBuilder incentive had sparked a flurry of activity as well as strong demand for jobs in the region with more than 1100 advertised daily on Seek.com.au.

“You don’t want to jinx it by talking about it too much but our regional economy is in pretty good shape and we all have a role to play to make sure that the prices don’t go stupid like in the last boom,” Cr Williamson said.

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