Master Builders ACT CEO Michael Hopkins says many ACT building and construction businesses will re-assess the viability of their businesses after reading that the ACT government is only budgeting for $57 million of new capital works over the next five years.

He says the ACT budget includes a $6.4 billion capital works program over the next five years to 2028-29, comprising mostly of works already in progress.

“The budget papers reveal a meagre $36.1m of new capital works in 2024-25 and $57 million over the five years to 2028-29 to be shared amongst 6500 local building businesses,” he says.

“Last year’s budget committed $1 billion of new capital works over five years. This has been significantly downgraded to a meagre $57 million over the next five years to 2028-29.

“The government has failed to listen to our key message about the importance of providing a smooth and reliable pipeline of future work to sustain the construction workforce and keep local businesses viable.

“The majority of the ACT’s infrastructure pipeline comprises works in progress, which reflects government’s delay in getting tenders released, awarded, and getting project approvals in place.”

He says Master Builders ACT has long campaigned for increases in training subsidies for key construction trades to help grow and sustain our workforce.

“For a long time the ACT government has subsidised the training for carpenters and plumbers at the lowest level of any state or territory government in Australia. Today’s budget does nothing to lift the ACT off the bottom of the funding ladder,” he says.

“While apprentices and trainees will welcome a one-off $250 cost of living grant, for tradies this amounts to around two tanks of fuel in their work ute, and hardly addresses the chronic lack of funding for apprentices in the sector.”