ISCOVER
The HIA has called on the Treasurer to make housing the ‘centrepiece of economic reform’ ahead of the government’s roundtable next month.
The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has urged Treasurer Jim Chalmers to put housing at the centre of the upcoming Economic Reform Roundtable, which aims to improve productivity, enhance economic resilience, and strengthen budget sustainability.
The association’s submission to the economic roundtable, which will be hosted by the Treasurer and held at Parliament House in Canberra from 19–21 August, is pushing for reform across several areas to lift home building activity, productivity, and investment, warning that Australia’s housing crisis will deepen without urgent action.
The submission also highlighted the need to address skill shortages for housing building and to loosen regulations around construction and planning systems to help bolster investment.
Commenting on reforms, HIA managing director Jocelyn Martin said the case for urgent reform had never been stronger.
“The Treasurer’s roundtable presents a critical opportunity to address the barriers that are holding back new housing supply. You cannot talk about productivity, economic growth or improving living standards without discussing housing,” Martin said.
“Red tape, regulation and delay are adding enormous costs to the delivery of new homes. If we want to see real reform, we need to boost productivity in our industry, cut the burden of unnecessary building and planning rules, and start making it easier to build the homes.”
She added that the HIA’s submission to Treasury highlighted the taxes and charges on a typical house and land package in Sydney can now exceed $500,000, costs that are “ultimately paid by new home buyers and locked into mortgages for decades”.
“We’re calling on all level of governments to stop taxing new homes like they’re a luxury item. Apart from alcohol and cigarettes, there’s no other sector more heavily taxed than housing,” Martin finished.
Who’s going to the roundtable?
Focused on ‘building consensus on long-term economic reform’, the Treasurer’s economic reform roundtable will hear from invited experts on economic policy; leaders with industry and policy experience; and representatives from regulators, the public sector, and the states.
High-profile invitees include Matt Comyn, CEO of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA).
Earlier this month, the major lender urged the government to consider policy reforms to address housing affordability, warning the problem was “arguably the most immediate economic policy issue” for younger Australians and those on lower incomes.
The recommendation was part of CBA’s submission to the Productivity Commission’s five inquiries on boosting Australia’s productivity, separate from the upcoming roundtable.
Invitees from the business and property sectors include Sue Lloyd‑Hurwitz, chair of the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, and Matthew Addison, chair of the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia.
Other invitees to the roundtable include:
- Kerry Schott, chair, Competition Review Expert Advisory Panel
- Scott Farquhar, chair, Tech Council of Australia
- Cath Bowtell, chair, IFM Investors
- Ben Wyatt, board member, Woodside; and former treasurer of Western Australia
- Ken Henry AC, chair, Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation
- Andrew Fraser, chair, Australian Retirement Trust; chancellor, Griffith University; and former treasurer of Queensland
- Allegra Spender MP, federal independent member for Wentworth
- Daniel Mookhey MLC, chair, Board of Treasurers; and NSW Treasurer
- Gina Cass‑Gottlieb, chair, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
- Steven Kennedy PSM, Secretary, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
- Jenny Wilkinson PSM, Secretary, Department of the Treasury
- Danielle Wood, chair, Productivity Commission
- Sally McManus, secretary, Australian Council of Trade Unions
- Michele O’Neil, president, Australian Council of Trade Unions
- Liam O’Brien*, assistant secretary, Australian Council of Trade Unions
- Joseph Mitchell*, assistant secretary, Australian Council of Trade Unions
- Bran Black, CEO, Business Council of Australia
- Andrew McKellar, CEO, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Innes Willox, CEO, Australian Industry Group
- Cassandra Goldie, Australian Council of Social Service
- Ted O’Brien, Deputy Leader of the Opposition and shadow treasurer
*These participants will attend as alternates for the secretary and president of the ACTU.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has said that the invitees were “an outstanding group of people who we believe will make a big contribution to the future direction of economic reform”.
“They are thought leaders who have been chosen for their ability to make meaningful contributions across a broad range of areas and across each of the three days,” he said earlier this month.
More invitations will be issued for participants to attend specific sessions as the agenda takes shape.
[Related: ‘Urgent’ reforms needed to fix housing crisis: CBA]
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