Covid inquiry slammed by opposition over HomeBuilder ‘mistake’
The opposition’s defence of the HomeBuilder came as findings from the Covid inquiry sparked calls for a royal commission.
The Coalition has lashed economic findings from the Covid-19 inquiry report that appear to have wrongly stated that the $2.6 billion HomeBuilder stimulus package had focused on renovations instead of new dwellings.
Treasury’s own data shows that the reverse is true, and that more than 80 per cent of the stimulus money – handed out in $25,000 grants – went into new home builds rather than refurbishing existing homes.
The report stated that the HomeBuilder stimulus helped fuel inflation and contributed to a housing shortage because “most of the money was spent on renovations” rather than building new homes.
It said the various infrastructure measures – and HomeBuilder in particular – introduced by governments had “overheated” the construction industry and contributed to inflation post-pandemic.
“The program’s focus on renovations rather than new builds added to the general housing shortages,” it said.
“These types of demand-side stimulus measures are largely not appropriate in pandemics where industries are facing supply constraints.”
However, Treasury analysis shows that the bulk of the grants went to building new homes, not renovations.
Opposition housing spokesman Michael Sukkar said he couldn’t understand how the inquiry got such basic figures so wrong.
“HomeBuilder was an incredibly successful program that supported the 500,000 jobs in the residential construction industry and helped more Australians into a home,” Mr Sukkar told The Australian.
“It’s surprising and concerning to see criticism of this program on the basis of a blatantly incorrect assumption.
“Over 80 per cent of HomeBuilder grants went to new builds, not renovations as claimed by the authors of the Covid-19 Response Inquiry.
“How they got this basic and verifiable fact wrong obviously undermines their flawed conclusion on the effectiveness of HomeBuilder.”
The Master Builders Association backed the Coalition’s claims.
“HomeBuilder effectively saved businesses and jobs during the height of the pandemic and was an appropriate support measure for the time, exceeding expectations,” the organisation said.
The opposition’s defence of the HomeBuilder scheme came as the report’s findings, which included multiple criticisms of the lockdowns, border closures, school shutdowns and vaccination mandates introduced by state governments – sparked calls for a royal commission.
LNP senator Matt Canavan, who was one of the most vocal critics of the various pandemic restrictions, said a full royal commission would allow for a more thorough examination of the public servants and chief medical officers who guided the state premiers through the pandemic.
“The Covid decision-makers should provide evidence to all Australians in public and under oath,” he said.
The Australian Human Rights Commission said the report showed that more needed to be done to acknowledge the human cost of the pandemic response and restore public trust.
Commissioner Lorraine Finlay said the No 1 lesson should be that response measures do not operate in a vacuum.
“The full human impact needs to be understood. We need to put human rights at the heart of all future emergency responses in Australia to ensure that this never happens again,” she said.
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