Housing crisis Qld: $92bn mega projects put new housing in jeopardy

Steven Miles has rejected accusations Queensland’s critical housing shortage is being exacerbated by the state Labor government’s centrepiece $92bn Big Build pipeline, firing up over comments made by the head of Master Builders.

• Editor’s view: Hurts most vulnerable

Premier Steven Miles has rejected accusations the government’s centerpiece Big Build and pro-union “best practice industry conditions” were exacerbating the state’s housing crisis.

And despite private industry warning the market distorting BPICs was making projects like high-rise housing unviable, Mr Miles boasted working on a government project “should be one of the best jobs you can get”.

As reported in The Courier-Mail, Master Builders Association, in a new building and construction forecast, warned the mega pipeline of projects across health, energy and transport over the next five years was making high-rise residential projects economically unviable due to a lack of workers and supply constraints.

The peak body also warned BPICs — which apply to major government projects about $100m or other declared projects— would be a challenge, as it ties up labour on builds that take longer to complete due to falls in productivity.

Master Builders Queensland chief executive Paul Bidwell said the tight pool of workers were also being drawn to government Big Build projects and in turn the impact of BPICs were “bleeding over into the private sector”.

Mr Miles rejected accusations the Big Build was making the housing crisis worse, claiming the $92bn pipeline was “all about addressing the housing shortage”.

“You do need to build houses but those houses need roads, they need electricity, water and sewerage, and the people who live there need schools and public transport and hospitals,” he said.

He said he was “not afraid” to take steps, like BPICs, that ensured workers were “properly paid on government projects”.

“I don’t accept the argument put by the Master Builders,” Mr Miles said.

“At the end of the day they want to pay their workers less that’s their prerogative.

“Government though should be an employer of choice and working on our projects should be one of the best jobs you can get.”

Premier Steven Miles with Fortescue workers in Gladstone. Picture: Annette Dew/Office of the Premier

Mr Bidwell said the criticism of BPIC across the industry was not about “shortcutting safety and undermining workers’ rights”.

“It’s about can we get on and build? Because if we don’t, we are not going to deliver all these houses plus the other projects that are needed,” he said.

As in the Courier-Mail on Tuesday, the new report by the peak body also warned the state’s pro-union “best practice industry conditions” — which apply to major government projects — would be a challenge, as it ties up labour on builds that take longer to complete due to falls in productivity.

These constraints mean despite the state government’s pledge to alleviate the housing and homeless crisis, Queensland is set to fall thousands short in its joint quest with the federal government to build 246,000 new homes in the state by mid-2029.

The federal government committed last August to building 1.2m new homes by mid-2029, meaning Queensland’s annual target would be 49,000 new dwellings each financial year starting July.

But Master Builders’ latest building and construction forecast shows Queensland will not hit the estimated yearly target until mid-2026.

It means the state will be nearly 5000 homes short of 246,000 dwellings.

On top of these issues, the industry has been further stressed a backlog of work generated by wild weather events across the state, with the recent storm season adding 60,000 insurance jobs to builders’ schedules.

Mr Bidwell said other organisations like BuildSkills Australia had warned 90,000 extra tradies would be needed nationally 90 days from now to keep up with demand.

And since the crippling worker shortage was unlikely to be alleviated in the immediate term, builders were focused on the most efficient ways to get things done amid a dip in productivity.

“Developers are telling us they cannot make (high-rise housing) stack up, they’re not viable because of the high cost of labour,” Mr Bidwell said.

He said this was due to the short supply of workers being drawn to government’s Big Build projects and in turn the impact of BPICs “bleeding over into the private sector”.

“(For example) we’re going to need more medium and high-density in the regions (and) if you’re looking for those commercial subbies, that’s what they’re going to expect to get paid,” Mr Bidwell said.

“On a hospital project in Mackay, Townsville or Cairns, they can get paid premium as a result of BPIC, then that’s where they’re going to go for the money.

“And the only way that these social housing unit blocks plus the private sector will compete is to pay the same level. That’s what’s putting the cost up.”

Mr Bidwell said the criticism of BPIC across the industry was not about “shortcutting safety and undermining workers’ rights”.

“It’s about can we get on and build? Because if we don’t, we are not going to deliver all these houses plus the other projects that are needed,” he said.

Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon again defended Queensland’s housing pipeline despite Master Builders’ forecasts.

“Master Builders’ own data shows we’re going to see a significant increase in the number of new homes over coming years, and we’ll work with the sector to grow the workforce and build even more homes,” she said.

HYDROGEN COUP FOR SOLAR PROJECT

A mega solar farm slated to be among Queensland’s largest is scheduled to be finished by mid-2026 and supply all its power to a nearby hydrogen scheme under a deal brokered between the state government and private industry.

Acciona Energia’s Aldoga Solar Farm, just outside of Gladstone, is set to power Stanwell’s nearby CQ-H2 – making the $500m solar project the biggest to exclusively supply a hydrogen scheme.

At its peak the project is expected to ­produce 480MW of energy, making it just shy of the largest solar farm in the state and also the country.

Premier Steven Miles is set to visit the Aldoga Solar Farm on Tuesday as the state government spruiks its renewable energy credentials in Gladstone a day after holding a rare meeting of cabinet outside Brisbane.

On Monday, Mr Miles and his frontbench toured Fortescue Future Industries’ hydrogen power plant, also within the Aldoga Industrial Estate.

The solar farm is situated within the Gladstone Development Area, on land owned by Economic Development Queensland, which in turn signed a development lease with proponent Acciona Energia. According to the company, the project will offer $150m in local procurement opportunities and will deliver up to 350 jobs during construction and up to 10 ongoing full-time roles.

Construction of the Aldoga Solar Farm is under way, with the facility to be operational by mid-2026, and to operate for 30 years

Acciona Energia managing director Brett Wickham said that projects like Aldoga would “help transition our energy system while providing the employment, training and procurement opportunities regional communities are ­asking for so they can take advantage of this booming industry”.