Starting the year with confidence

Welcome to the first issue of Property Australia for 2018!

The property industry starts 2018 with confidence. The ANZ/Property Council Survey released last week highlighted the fact that across Australia our industry has a pipeline of work covering a range of sectors.

Confidence is no longer isolated to the southeast of the nation. The old cliché of the ‘two speed economy’ seems to be behind us.

It’s the right time for us to talk about our industry’s compelling story – and in the coming weeks you will see and hear our industry campaign on radio, at bus-stops, shopping centres and airports.

For the economy, we are the country’s biggest employer – employing more people than mining and manufacturing combined.

For our cities, we are shaping them for the future.

For our environment, our industry is leading the world on sustainability – and providing demonstrated leadership in tackling the emissions from the built environment.

It’s a conversation we’re asking all members to engage in and get behind.

This focus on values is reflected in this issue’s interview with Multiplex’s CEO John Flecker. Flecker was asked by an employee “why do we have our employees sitting in a cold, damp and leaky site shed while we were building high-performance buildings?”.

The great question reflected an observation: you must live your values. Leadership is no longer a case of do as I say, but do as I do.

And now Multiplex employees design their own site sheds. You can read more about John’s insights on valuing your people in this issue.

On sustainability, diversity, and in the various public policy debates, our goal is to help you lead – and to give you the tools to build better businesses that create more jobs, and positively shape the communities of our country.

It’s exciting work – and I can’t wait to get stuck into 2018.