The housing policy situation in Australia has hit peak stupid, with the building industry now lobbying the federal government to subsidise home builders who bring skilled migrant workers into Australia:
“The building industry has told the government it will need 480,000 new workers over the next three years, ranging from Australian apprentices to skilled foreign workers, to meet growing demand and replace older tradespeople as they leave the workforce”, reports The SMH.
“A shortage of tradies, including skilled migrant workers, is leading to higher labour costs and delays in construction timelines”, said Master Builders chief executive Denita Wawn.
“This ultimately drives up the cost of building and reduces our ability to meet our annual housing targets”, she said.
Master Builders is seeking the federal equivalent of a program established by the West Australian government, which pays builders $10,000 for each qualified foreign worker they employ to assist with visa, housing, and moving expenses.
The idiocy was nicely summarised by Matt Barrie in the below Tweet:
The notion of importing migrants to build homes for migrants is circular ‘tail wagging the dog’ economics:
Credit: Rational Aussie
It is nonsensical to import more migrants to fix a housing shortage caused by too many migrants.
The 480,000 migrant workers that Master Builders wants would necessitate the construction of around 185,000 new homes just to accommodate these workers.
Australia would also need to build a Canberra’s worth of economic and social infrastructure, as well as supply thousands of nurses, doctors, teachers, and other professionals to cater for these migrants.
Source: The Australia Institute
Where will these workers come from? That’s right, we will import them, which will then lead to renewed housing shortages.
And the cycle of the past 20 years of mass immigration will rinse and repeat.
Let’s get back to basics here. Australia did not build enough homes in the 15 years of ‘Big Australia’ immigration leading up to the pandemic.
There is also no way that we will build enough homes with the current extreme level of net overseas migration, alongside high interest rates, elevated materials costs, and widespread builder insolvencies.
Too much immigration-driven demand is the cause of, not the solution to, Australia’s housing shortage.
According to the 2023 Intergenerational Report, Australia’s population is projected to grow by an extraordinary 14 million (more than 50%) in the next four decades to 40.5 million people. This is equivalent to adding the combined populations of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide to Australia’s current population.
This level of population growth, which will be driven by permanently high net overseas migration, will necessitate the construction of around 5.5 million homes (accounting for demolitions), as well as massive amounts of infrastructure. It’s an impossible task.
The first best solution to Australia’s housing and infrastructure shortages is to reduce net overseas migration to a level that is below the nation’s ability to supply new homes, infrastructure, and business investment, while also safeguarding the natural environment (including water supplies).
Otherwise, shortages will worsen, and there will be a further decline in productivity growth and living standards.
Policy makers must stop making the situation worse by pursuing a ‘Big Australia’ mass immigration policy.
