5 June 2020
The Morrison Government’s $680 million HomeBuilder package is a lifeline for the timber industry across Australia, including right here in Tasmania.
The economic impact of the coronavirus is having an enormous impact on our country’s building and construction industry, with a significant decline in residential housing.
Master Builders Australia predicted up to a 40 per cent decline in residential home builds, and job loss in the hundreds of thousands across the country.
Master Builders Tasmania forecast that without government support, new dwelling starts in Tasmania could fall by around 700 in 12 months and 2,200 in the next five years.
This would have a devastating impact on Australia’s and Tasmania’s timber industry, with many in the industry predicting redundancies, stand-downs, salary reductions and reduced hours.
The new HomeBuilder program will provide a $25,000 grant to eligible applicants and is expected to provide around 27,000 grants, supporting 140,000 direct jobs and another one million related jobs across the sector and supply chain – including the timber industry.
Together with the Tasmanian Government’s broadening of the $20,000 First Home Owner’s building grant, Tasmanians can secure a total $45,000 in assistance.
This investment in residential activity will give back more than double, with every $1 invested in home building activity providing $3 to the wider economy.
This is great news for the timber industry, which provides high-quality, world leading, renewable timber products for all Australian homes.
For Tasmanian family owned and operated small businesses such as McKay Timber, this will assist in stemming the building downturn and provide job security for its workforce.