Platforms prepare to cut ties with SQM over $1b super scheme failure
The collapse of the two schemes threatens the retirement savings of nearly 11,000 Australians, and several research houses are coming under scrutiny after giving them grades that indicated they were safe and investible.
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The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
The solution to Australia's skills shortage hiding in plain sight
In Australia today, like the proverbial chameleon in the crowd, there is an issue and its solution hiding in plain sight. Migrants and refugees are struggling to get jobs that befit their skills and experience. At the same time, we have a critical skills shortage. Migrants and refugees face barriers, including a lack of local experience and networks, English language proficiency or pronunciation and a lack of familiarity with Australian workplace culture and the job market. There are also difficulties and barriers, including exorbitant costs, in getting overseas qualifications recognised in Australia. These structural barriers inhibit positive migrant and refugee career outcomes. Also, employers can be reticent or unsure about hiring migrants and refugees, and mainstream employment services often are either not accessible or unsuited to migrants and refugees. Easily available statistics and research paint a picture of the effect of this situation. Migrants from non-English-speaking countries suffer persistent wage gaps, and overseas-educated migrants earn less than similarly qualified Australians, particularly those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Poor English can affect employment, with 44 per cent of migrants and refugees working below their skill level, even though 57 per cent of them hold university qualifications. And strong accents or a lack of knowledge of local industry jargon exacerbates the problem. At the same time, we know there are critical workforce shortages across a plethora of sectors. The current shortfall of GPs in Australia will rise to 3900 in 2028 and to more than 8900 in 2028; and the undersupply of nurses will rise to almost 80,000 by 2035. Engineers Australia has reported that the nation's engineering skills and labour shortage are at their highest level in a decade. And Master Builders Australia says 130,000 extra tradies will be needed by 2029 to meet the growing demand for new housing. The Commonwealth government's Jobs and Skills Australia agency has estimated that 67 occupations covered by the Technicians and Trades Workers category are in chronic and long-term shortage, representing about one-third of all skills shortages across the country. These shortages are pushing up construction costs and are worse in rural and regional areas, many of which are vulnerable to natural disasters. The boom in renewable energy, data centres to support AI and major infrastructure projects as well as our aging populations and increased demand in care sectors mean these shortages are neither short term nor geographically limited. Making matters worse is global competition for skilled migrants, competition between states within Australia for workers with critical skills and the leakage of skilled workers from regional areas to the cities. But this situation is also an economic opportunity for Australia. Better harnessing the skills and experience of migrants would deliver economic dividends through addressing professional workforce shortages, boosting productivity and reducing the overall cost of creating the professional workforce we need. This is evidenced in some simple numbers. It costs Australia anywhere from $180,000 to $500,000 - including Commonwealth Place Supported funding - to produce a registered doctor. For overseas trained medicos, that figure is around $28,500 - and it could be lower with more streamlined qualifications recognition. Better utilising migrant and refugee skills would also deliver a social dividend through the better integration of newcomers into the community, thus bolstering social cohesion and further supporting disadvantaged cohorts of migrants and refugees. To do this, we need to address the three pillars of the problem: providing access to gap training and qualification recognition; preparing people for Australia's workplace culture and environment; and addressing employer attitudes and bias toward international skills. Practically, this provides a collective approach to reduce the cost and simplify the processes for requalification and qualification, with clearly communicated pathways. We need to support employers to be more confident about overseas-trained staff through incentives and programs to address discrimination. This includes our looking at our recruitment practices and critically assessing whether they are a barrier to accessing migrant talent. We need to support migrants and refugees with job readiness training initiatives, such as the Skilled Professional Migrant Program delivered by my organisation, AMES Australia. Recently, we commissioned an economist to run the numbers on the effect of a national rollout of the program, a scheme that has a proven record of supporting migrants and refugees into jobs commensurate with their skills and qualifications. The paper, produced by Dr Ian Pringle, found utilising the skills and experience migrants and refugees bring with them could benefit Australia's economy by as much as $10 billion over five years. It found that supporting new arrivals to re-establish their professional careers in Australia could generate more than $2.5 billion in extra tax receipts as well as an extra $8 billion in earnings circulating in the economy over five years. What's more is that the extra access to skills could also produce a 10 per cent spike in productivity. The skills gap is an issue that has evolved again and again over time. Historically, Australia's response has been a siloed approach when what we have is an economic problem that needs a systemic all-of-the-economy response. It's a problem that we have identified but failed to properly pin down and solve over decades. That's the reason why Australia needs a national and integrated initiative to harness the skills of migrants and refugees, while reaping the economic and social benefits that it would bring before that chameleon changes its colour and disappears into the crowd again. In Australia today, like the proverbial chameleon in the crowd, there is an issue and its solution hiding in plain sight. Migrants and refugees are struggling to get jobs that befit their skills and experience. At the same time, we have a critical skills shortage. Migrants and refugees face barriers, including a lack of local experience and networks, English language proficiency or pronunciation and a lack of familiarity with Australian workplace culture and the job market. There are also difficulties and barriers, including exorbitant costs, in getting overseas qualifications recognised in Australia. These structural barriers inhibit positive migrant and refugee career outcomes. Also, employers can be reticent or unsure about hiring migrants and refugees, and mainstream employment services often are either not accessible or unsuited to migrants and refugees. Easily available statistics and research paint a picture of the effect of this situation. Migrants from non-English-speaking countries suffer persistent wage gaps, and overseas-educated migrants earn less than similarly qualified Australians, particularly those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Poor English can affect employment, with 44 per cent of migrants and refugees working below their skill level, even though 57 per cent of them hold university qualifications. And strong accents or a lack of knowledge of local industry jargon exacerbates the problem. At the same time, we know there are critical workforce shortages across a plethora of sectors. The current shortfall of GPs in Australia will rise to 3900 in 2028 and to more than 8900 in 2028; and the undersupply of nurses will rise to almost 80,000 by 2035. Engineers Australia has reported that the nation's engineering skills and labour shortage are at their highest level in a decade. And Master Builders Australia says 130,000 extra tradies will be needed by 2029 to meet the growing demand for new housing. The Commonwealth government's Jobs and Skills Australia agency has estimated that 67 occupations covered by the Technicians and Trades Workers category are in chronic and long-term shortage, representing about one-third of all skills shortages across the country. These shortages are pushing up construction costs and are worse in rural and regional areas, many of which are vulnerable to natural disasters. The boom in renewable energy, data centres to support AI and major infrastructure projects as well as our aging populations and increased demand in care sectors mean these shortages are neither short term nor geographically limited. Making matters worse is global competition for skilled migrants, competition between states within Australia for workers with critical skills and the leakage of skilled workers from regional areas to the cities. But this situation is also an economic opportunity for Australia. Better harnessing the skills and experience of migrants would deliver economic dividends through addressing professional workforce shortages, boosting productivity and reducing the overall cost of creating the professional workforce we need. This is evidenced in some simple numbers. It costs Australia anywhere from $180,000 to $500,000 - including Commonwealth Place Supported funding - to produce a registered doctor. For overseas trained medicos, that figure is around $28,500 - and it could be lower with more streamlined qualifications recognition. Better utilising migrant and refugee skills would also deliver a social dividend through the better integration of newcomers into the community, thus bolstering social cohesion and further supporting disadvantaged cohorts of migrants and refugees. To do this, we need to address the three pillars of the problem: providing access to gap training and qualification recognition; preparing people for Australia's workplace culture and environment; and addressing employer attitudes and bias toward international skills. Practically, this provides a collective approach to reduce the cost and simplify the processes for requalification and qualification, with clearly communicated pathways. We need to support employers to be more confident about overseas-trained staff through incentives and programs to address discrimination. This includes our looking at our recruitment practices and critically assessing whether they are a barrier to accessing migrant talent. We need to support migrants and refugees with job readiness training initiatives, such as the Skilled Professional Migrant Program delivered by my organisation, AMES Australia. Recently, we commissioned an economist to run the numbers on the effect of a national rollout of the program, a scheme that has a proven record of supporting migrants and refugees into jobs commensurate with their skills and qualifications. The paper, produced by Dr Ian Pringle, found utilising the skills and experience migrants and refugees bring with them could benefit Australia's economy by as much as $10 billion over five years. It found that supporting new arrivals to re-establish their professional careers in Australia could generate more than $2.5 billion in extra tax receipts as well as an extra $8 billion in earnings circulating in the economy over five years. What's more is that the extra access to skills could also produce a 10 per cent spike in productivity. The skills gap is an issue that has evolved again and again over time. Historically, Australia's response has been a siloed approach when what we have is an economic problem that needs a systemic all-of-the-economy response. It's a problem that we have identified but failed to properly pin down and solve over decades. That's the reason why Australia needs a national and integrated initiative to harness the skills of migrants and refugees, while reaping the economic and social benefits that it would bring before that chameleon changes its colour and disappears into the crowd again. In Australia today, like the proverbial chameleon in the crowd, there is an issue and its solution hiding in plain sight. Migrants and refugees are struggling to get jobs that befit their skills and experience. At the same time, we have a critical skills shortage. Migrants and refugees face barriers, including a lack of local experience and networks, English language proficiency or pronunciation and a lack of familiarity with Australian workplace culture and the job market. There are also difficulties and barriers, including exorbitant costs, in getting overseas qualifications recognised in Australia. These structural barriers inhibit positive migrant and refugee career outcomes. Also, employers can be reticent or unsure about hiring migrants and refugees, and mainstream employment services often are either not accessible or unsuited to migrants and refugees. Easily available statistics and research paint a picture of the effect of this situation. Migrants from non-English-speaking countries suffer persistent wage gaps, and overseas-educated migrants earn less than similarly qualified Australians, particularly those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Poor English can affect employment, with 44 per cent of migrants and refugees working below their skill level, even though 57 per cent of them hold university qualifications. And strong accents or a lack of knowledge of local industry jargon exacerbates the problem. At the same time, we know there are critical workforce shortages across a plethora of sectors. The current shortfall of GPs in Australia will rise to 3900 in 2028 and to more than 8900 in 2028; and the undersupply of nurses will rise to almost 80,000 by 2035. Engineers Australia has reported that the nation's engineering skills and labour shortage are at their highest level in a decade. And Master Builders Australia says 130,000 extra tradies will be needed by 2029 to meet the growing demand for new housing. The Commonwealth government's Jobs and Skills Australia agency has estimated that 67 occupations covered by the Technicians and Trades Workers category are in chronic and long-term shortage, representing about one-third of all skills shortages across the country. These shortages are pushing up construction costs and are worse in rural and regional areas, many of which are vulnerable to natural disasters. The boom in renewable energy, data centres to support AI and major infrastructure projects as well as our aging populations and increased demand in care sectors mean these shortages are neither short term nor geographically limited. Making matters worse is global competition for skilled migrants, competition between states within Australia for workers with critical skills and the leakage of skilled workers from regional areas to the cities. But this situation is also an economic opportunity for Australia. Better harnessing the skills and experience of migrants would deliver economic dividends through addressing professional workforce shortages, boosting productivity and reducing the overall cost of creating the professional workforce we need. This is evidenced in some simple numbers. It costs Australia anywhere from $180,000 to $500,000 - including Commonwealth Place Supported funding - to produce a registered doctor. For overseas trained medicos, that figure is around $28,500 - and it could be lower with more streamlined qualifications recognition. Better utilising migrant and refugee skills would also deliver a social dividend through the better integration of newcomers into the community, thus bolstering social cohesion and further supporting disadvantaged cohorts of migrants and refugees. To do this, we need to address the three pillars of the problem: providing access to gap training and qualification recognition; preparing people for Australia's workplace culture and environment; and addressing employer attitudes and bias toward international skills. Practically, this provides a collective approach to reduce the cost and simplify the processes for requalification and qualification, with clearly communicated pathways. We need to support employers to be more confident about overseas-trained staff through incentives and programs to address discrimination. This includes our looking at our recruitment practices and critically assessing whether they are a barrier to accessing migrant talent. We need to support migrants and refugees with job readiness training initiatives, such as the Skilled Professional Migrant Program delivered by my organisation, AMES Australia. Recently, we commissioned an economist to run the numbers on the effect of a national rollout of the program, a scheme that has a proven record of supporting migrants and refugees into jobs commensurate with their skills and qualifications. The paper, produced by Dr Ian Pringle, found utilising the skills and experience migrants and refugees bring with them could benefit Australia's economy by as much as $10 billion over five years. It found that supporting new arrivals to re-establish their professional careers in Australia could generate more than $2.5 billion in extra tax receipts as well as an extra $8 billion in earnings circulating in the economy over five years. What's more is that the extra access to skills could also produce a 10 per cent spike in productivity. The skills gap is an issue that has evolved again and again over time. Historically, Australia's response has been a siloed approach when what we have is an economic problem that needs a systemic all-of-the-economy response. It's a problem that we have identified but failed to properly pin down and solve over decades. That's the reason why Australia needs a national and integrated initiative to harness the skills of migrants and refugees, while reaping the economic and social benefits that it would bring before that chameleon changes its colour and disappears into the crowd again. In Australia today, like the proverbial chameleon in the crowd, there is an issue and its solution hiding in plain sight. Migrants and refugees are struggling to get jobs that befit their skills and experience. At the same time, we have a critical skills shortage. Migrants and refugees face barriers, including a lack of local experience and networks, English language proficiency or pronunciation and a lack of familiarity with Australian workplace culture and the job market. There are also difficulties and barriers, including exorbitant costs, in getting overseas qualifications recognised in Australia. These structural barriers inhibit positive migrant and refugee career outcomes. Also, employers can be reticent or unsure about hiring migrants and refugees, and mainstream employment services often are either not accessible or unsuited to migrants and refugees. Easily available statistics and research paint a picture of the effect of this situation. Migrants from non-English-speaking countries suffer persistent wage gaps, and overseas-educated migrants earn less than similarly qualified Australians, particularly those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Poor English can affect employment, with 44 per cent of migrants and refugees working below their skill level, even though 57 per cent of them hold university qualifications. And strong accents or a lack of knowledge of local industry jargon exacerbates the problem. At the same time, we know there are critical workforce shortages across a plethora of sectors. The current shortfall of GPs in Australia will rise to 3900 in 2028 and to more than 8900 in 2028; and the undersupply of nurses will rise to almost 80,000 by 2035. Engineers Australia has reported that the nation's engineering skills and labour shortage are at their highest level in a decade. And Master Builders Australia says 130,000 extra tradies will be needed by 2029 to meet the growing demand for new housing. The Commonwealth government's Jobs and Skills Australia agency has estimated that 67 occupations covered by the Technicians and Trades Workers category are in chronic and long-term shortage, representing about one-third of all skills shortages across the country. These shortages are pushing up construction costs and are worse in rural and regional areas, many of which are vulnerable to natural disasters. The boom in renewable energy, data centres to support AI and major infrastructure projects as well as our aging populations and increased demand in care sectors mean these shortages are neither short term nor geographically limited. Making matters worse is global competition for skilled migrants, competition between states within Australia for workers with critical skills and the leakage of skilled workers from regional areas to the cities. But this situation is also an economic opportunity for Australia. Better harnessing the skills and experience of migrants would deliver economic dividends through addressing professional workforce shortages, boosting productivity and reducing the overall cost of creating the professional workforce we need. This is evidenced in some simple numbers. It costs Australia anywhere from $180,000 to $500,000 - including Commonwealth Place Supported funding - to produce a registered doctor. For overseas trained medicos, that figure is around $28,500 - and it could be lower with more streamlined qualifications recognition. Better utilising migrant and refugee skills would also deliver a social dividend through the better integration of newcomers into the community, thus bolstering social cohesion and further supporting disadvantaged cohorts of migrants and refugees. To do this, we need to address the three pillars of the problem: providing access to gap training and qualification recognition; preparing people for Australia's workplace culture and environment; and addressing employer attitudes and bias toward international skills. Practically, this provides a collective approach to reduce the cost and simplify the processes for requalification and qualification, with clearly communicated pathways. We need to support employers to be more confident about overseas-trained staff through incentives and programs to address discrimination. This includes our looking at our recruitment practices and critically assessing whether they are a barrier to accessing migrant talent. We need to support migrants and refugees with job readiness training initiatives, such as the Skilled Professional Migrant Program delivered by my organisation, AMES Australia. Recently, we commissioned an economist to run the numbers on the effect of a national rollout of the program, a scheme that has a proven record of supporting migrants and refugees into jobs commensurate with their skills and qualifications. The paper, produced by Dr Ian Pringle, found utilising the skills and experience migrants and refugees bring with them could benefit Australia's economy by as much as $10 billion over five years. It found that supporting new arrivals to re-establish their professional careers in Australia could generate more than $2.5 billion in extra tax receipts as well as an extra $8 billion in earnings circulating in the economy over five years. What's more is that the extra access to skills could also produce a 10 per cent spike in productivity. The skills gap is an issue that has evolved again and again over time. Historically, Australia's response has been a siloed approach when what we have is an economic problem that needs a systemic all-of-the-economy response. It's a problem that we have identified but failed to properly pin down and solve over decades. That's the reason why Australia needs a national and integrated initiative to harness the skills of migrants and refugees, while reaping the economic and social benefits that it would bring before that chameleon changes its colour and disappears into the crowd again.
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Fast approvals only add to housing construction logjam
Adding new housing projects to Australia's already swollen pipeline has been likened to turning the "tap on a bath that is already full", as analysis shows faster approvals are no silver bullet in fixing the nation's crisis. Data from property research firm Cotality shows approvals could move higher in the coming months due to rezoning reforms and incentives for new builds coinciding with falling interest rates. But rather than fix the shortage of homes, it could cause a problem for the construction industry by adding new projects to an already long list. "It's like turning up the tap on a bath that is already full," said the analysis from head of research Eliza Owen. It found delivery to be the problem, not approvals, with 219,000 homes under construction and completion times ballooning. "The real bottleneck lies in the build phase, not planning reform," the analysis said. The federal government's goal to build 1.2 million new homes in five years, adopted in August 2023, is thought of as unachievable by the industry. "With completion times already above average, and construction costs elevated, it seems an odd time to be incentivising more dwelling approvals and commencements to the backlog of work to be done," the report stated. Ahead of the Albanese government's national productivity summit later this month, the report calls for a move away from demand stimulation to sustainable delivery. "Making homes faster and cheaper to build, while still maintaining quality, resilient homes is the key challenge for policymakers to focus on right now," the report reads. Labor's massive election win has prompted union bosses to call for the government to revisit potential changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions. But proposals to scale back the tax deduction is tricky for the government, after Labor took reforms for negative gearing to the 2019 federal election and lost. Negative gearing allows investors to claim deductions on losses and the capital gains tax discount halves the tax paid by Australians who sell assets owned for 12 months or more. The analysis says if governments are serious about delivering on the housing target, they "must focus on building capacity, lifting productivity, and ensuring every approved home actually gets built". Adding new housing projects to Australia's already swollen pipeline has been likened to turning the "tap on a bath that is already full", as analysis shows faster approvals are no silver bullet in fixing the nation's crisis. Data from property research firm Cotality shows approvals could move higher in the coming months due to rezoning reforms and incentives for new builds coinciding with falling interest rates. But rather than fix the shortage of homes, it could cause a problem for the construction industry by adding new projects to an already long list. "It's like turning up the tap on a bath that is already full," said the analysis from head of research Eliza Owen. It found delivery to be the problem, not approvals, with 219,000 homes under construction and completion times ballooning. "The real bottleneck lies in the build phase, not planning reform," the analysis said. The federal government's goal to build 1.2 million new homes in five years, adopted in August 2023, is thought of as unachievable by the industry. "With completion times already above average, and construction costs elevated, it seems an odd time to be incentivising more dwelling approvals and commencements to the backlog of work to be done," the report stated. Ahead of the Albanese government's national productivity summit later this month, the report calls for a move away from demand stimulation to sustainable delivery. "Making homes faster and cheaper to build, while still maintaining quality, resilient homes is the key challenge for policymakers to focus on right now," the report reads. Labor's massive election win has prompted union bosses to call for the government to revisit potential changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions. But proposals to scale back the tax deduction is tricky for the government, after Labor took reforms for negative gearing to the 2019 federal election and lost. Negative gearing allows investors to claim deductions on losses and the capital gains tax discount halves the tax paid by Australians who sell assets owned for 12 months or more. The analysis says if governments are serious about delivering on the housing target, they "must focus on building capacity, lifting productivity, and ensuring every approved home actually gets built". Adding new housing projects to Australia's already swollen pipeline has been likened to turning the "tap on a bath that is already full", as analysis shows faster approvals are no silver bullet in fixing the nation's crisis. Data from property research firm Cotality shows approvals could move higher in the coming months due to rezoning reforms and incentives for new builds coinciding with falling interest rates. But rather than fix the shortage of homes, it could cause a problem for the construction industry by adding new projects to an already long list. "It's like turning up the tap on a bath that is already full," said the analysis from head of research Eliza Owen. It found delivery to be the problem, not approvals, with 219,000 homes under construction and completion times ballooning. "The real bottleneck lies in the build phase, not planning reform," the analysis said. The federal government's goal to build 1.2 million new homes in five years, adopted in August 2023, is thought of as unachievable by the industry. "With completion times already above average, and construction costs elevated, it seems an odd time to be incentivising more dwelling approvals and commencements to the backlog of work to be done," the report stated. Ahead of the Albanese government's national productivity summit later this month, the report calls for a move away from demand stimulation to sustainable delivery. "Making homes faster and cheaper to build, while still maintaining quality, resilient homes is the key challenge for policymakers to focus on right now," the report reads. Labor's massive election win has prompted union bosses to call for the government to revisit potential changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions. But proposals to scale back the tax deduction is tricky for the government, after Labor took reforms for negative gearing to the 2019 federal election and lost. Negative gearing allows investors to claim deductions on losses and the capital gains tax discount halves the tax paid by Australians who sell assets owned for 12 months or more. The analysis says if governments are serious about delivering on the housing target, they "must focus on building capacity, lifting productivity, and ensuring every approved home actually gets built". Adding new housing projects to Australia's already swollen pipeline has been likened to turning the "tap on a bath that is already full", as analysis shows faster approvals are no silver bullet in fixing the nation's crisis. Data from property research firm Cotality shows approvals could move higher in the coming months due to rezoning reforms and incentives for new builds coinciding with falling interest rates. But rather than fix the shortage of homes, it could cause a problem for the construction industry by adding new projects to an already long list. "It's like turning up the tap on a bath that is already full," said the analysis from head of research Eliza Owen. It found delivery to be the problem, not approvals, with 219,000 homes under construction and completion times ballooning. "The real bottleneck lies in the build phase, not planning reform," the analysis said. The federal government's goal to build 1.2 million new homes in five years, adopted in August 2023, is thought of as unachievable by the industry. "With completion times already above average, and construction costs elevated, it seems an odd time to be incentivising more dwelling approvals and commencements to the backlog of work to be done," the report stated. Ahead of the Albanese government's national productivity summit later this month, the report calls for a move away from demand stimulation to sustainable delivery. "Making homes faster and cheaper to build, while still maintaining quality, resilient homes is the key challenge for policymakers to focus on right now," the report reads. Labor's massive election win has prompted union bosses to call for the government to revisit potential changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions. But proposals to scale back the tax deduction is tricky for the government, after Labor took reforms for negative gearing to the 2019 federal election and lost. Negative gearing allows investors to claim deductions on losses and the capital gains tax discount halves the tax paid by Australians who sell assets owned for 12 months or more. The analysis says if governments are serious about delivering on the housing target, they "must focus on building capacity, lifting productivity, and ensuring every approved home actually gets built".
Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Fast approvals only add to housing construction logjam
Adding new housing projects to Australia's already swollen pipeline has been likened to turning the "tap on a bath that is already full", as analysis shows faster approvals are no silver bullet in fixing the nation's crisis. Data from property research firm Cotality shows approvals could move higher in the coming months due to rezoning reforms and incentives for new builds coinciding with falling interest rates. But rather than fix the shortage of homes, it could cause a problem for the construction industry by adding new projects to an already long list. "It's like turning up the tap on a bath that is already full," said the analysis from head of research Eliza Owen. It found delivery to be the problem, not approvals, with 219,000 homes under construction and completion times ballooning. "The real bottleneck lies in the build phase, not planning reform," the analysis said. The federal government's goal to build 1.2 million new homes in five years, adopted in August 2023, is thought of as unachievable by the industry. "With completion times already above average, and construction costs elevated, it seems an odd time to be incentivising more dwelling approvals and commencements to the backlog of work to be done," the report stated. Ahead of the Albanese government's national productivity summit later this month, the report calls for a move away from demand stimulation to sustainable delivery. "Making homes faster and cheaper to build, while still maintaining quality, resilient homes is the key challenge for policymakers to focus on right now," the report reads. Labor's massive election win has prompted union bosses to call for the government to revisit potential changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions. But proposals to scale back the tax deduction is tricky for the government, after Labor took reforms for negative gearing to the 2019 federal election and lost. Negative gearing allows investors to claim deductions on losses and the capital gains tax discount halves the tax paid by Australians who sell assets owned for 12 months or more. The analysis says if governments are serious about delivering on the housing target, they "must focus on building capacity, lifting productivity, and ensuring every approved home actually gets built".
