Construction boost after Queensland floods

By Michael Lund    

The rebuilding of Queensland could lead to a welcome boost in employment in the construction industry.

Thousands of homes and businesses affected by the flooding across the state will need to be repaired or rebuilt.

It’s a mammoth task that Housing Industry Association Queensland executive director Warwick Temby says will increase demand for people of all skills in the industry.

“There will be an increase in demand for all sorts of trades from plasterers to electricians, plumbers, tilers and the rest,” he says.

Analysts are already trying to work out the level of demand with some looking back to the 1974 flood in Brisbane to see what impact that had on the housing construction industry.

The industry has been struggling because of the global financial crisis. Figures released this week by the Australian Industry Group show a drop in new building activity for the seventh consecutive month to

December.

The Performance of Construction Index, released in collaboration with the Housing Industry Association, shows a similar pattern for new orders.

AIG’s group director of public policy, Dr Peter Burn, had said the industry was hoping for a lift in private sector projects in the New Year to help offset the decline in business.

That was before the devastating flooding that wrought havoc to many homes across the state.

Master Builders Queensland chief executive Graham Cuthbert says every builder and construction worker in Queensland will be needed to help rebuild flood-affected communities. “There will certainly be increased building activity as part of the rebuilding process, but it’s a very sad way for it to happen,” Mr Cuthbert says.

However, one of the problems with any rebuilding may be finding enough qualified people to do the work.

Mr Cuthbert says the industry has lost about 34,000 workers in the past two years.

Queensland-based construction training organisation Biga’s general manager, Chris Hudson, says many new recruits have also left the industry.

“There’s been a lot of apprentices laid off in the last 12 months because of the fact that there hasn’t been a lot of work in the industry,” he says.

From past experience, he says those who have left rarely return to complete their training.

For those looking to help in any rebuilding though, Mr Hudson says new recruits can be trained to start work on construction projects as soon as possible. “For tradesmen wanting to take on new apprentices, we can get people site-ready quite quickly,” he says.

“There’s going to be a lot of people out there looking for a lot of training and qualifications. It will be interesting to see how things turn out.”

HIAQ’s Mr Temby is still cautious about any long-term boom in employment in the construction industry.

Early predictions for new-build projects in the state this year were for about 30,000 new homes, compared with a figure of 45,000 only a few years ago.

“My concern is that all this flood experience will make people nervous about making big decisions, and buying a house may be one of those decisions,” he says.

That would mean little change – or even a decline – in the new-build projects and so little change in employment aside from any rebuilding projects.

“I don’t think it will be the boost some people expect,” Mr Temby says.

“There will be work coming out of this disaster, but I don’t think it’s going to be a saviour of the industry.”

The Queensland Government is setting up a new Queensland Reconstruction Authority to help fast-track some of the rebuilding in the 60 flood-affected communities.

Part of its task will be to look at what needs doing to repair infrastructure such as road and rail.

The Queensland Urban Development Institute president, Warren Harris, says rebuilding infrastructure is important to keep the arteries going, but he says providing housing for people is equally as important.

“There’s a lot of people out there that don’t have the house they had a few weeks ago,” he says.

“They’re living elsewhere in temporary accommodation. People come first and we must rehouse people.”

Mr Harris says he is optimistic that rebuilding homes will help reverse the decline in employment in the

industry

“We have seen a lot of good will,” he says. “And we need to capture that and work with the sectors that have got the money, the government grants and the insurance money, and get on with what we do best and that’s rebuild houses for Queenslanders, and I think we can do it.”

Article from The Courier Mail, January 22, 2011.