The IR arm wrestle between business and unions dominated the headlines from last week’s Jobs and Skills Summit, but there were also a number of other important and tangible outcomes for the property industry.
Among the list of 36 announced outcomes were the following key agreements for our industry:
- A welcome package of measures to speed up visa processing, extend work rights for student visa holders and lift the permanent Migration Program target to 195,000 in 2022-23 to help ease critical skills shortages.
- A commitment to work with investors (including superfunds) to attract more private capital into ‘national priority areas’ such as housing (an encouraging sign for build-to-rent policy).
- Widening the remit of the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to make an extra $575 million available to invest in social and affordable housing.
- A general commitment to work with states and territories to ensure the housing and infrastructure are in place to meet the needs of a growing population.
- Establishing a tripartite National Construction Industry Forum to address issues such as mental health, safety, training, apprentices, productivity, culture, diversity and gender equity in the industry.
- An aligned approach across all governments to transitioning to a net zero economy.
There is a lot of opportunity in these commitments – even the very general ones – but there is also much work to do to translate these into substantive policy solutions.
It’s also clear that the Government’s policy focus on economic productivity, housing and cities and infrastructure is yet to fully form – all will be vital for our industry and the broader community.
These issues are the key focus for the Property Council’s national advocacy, an agenda that sees me back in Canberra for a couple of days of meetings again this week.
And finally, congratulations to the Billbergia team for taking out the RLB Australian Development of the Year Award on Friday night for Wentworth Point Town Centre, and to all of our other worthy award winners.
