The Morrison government’s $17.6 billion stimulus package should bolster economic resilience in the face of the current challenge of coronavirus, says Master Builders Australia.
“In times of crisis people look to their leaders to respond and the Government through this stimulus package has done that,” Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia says.
“Right now, what our industry most needs is confidence and this clear signal from the Government that they are determined and committed to doing whatever it takes is extremely welcome,” she said.
“There are more than 380,000 small building businesses and tradies in our industry, more than any other sector of the economy, that will benefit from the Government’s strong focus on backing small businesses,” says Wawn.
“We strongly back the moves to back businesses, particularly small businesses, to keep workers and apprentices employed. The danger with economic shocks is that the labour market recovers slower than the rest of the economy so moves to offset employers shrinking their workforce is very well targeted.”
“Incentives to invest in business assets are also well targeted to our industry. There is no doubt builders and tradies will be encouraged to invest in new plant and equipment,” she says.
“Our industry also remains nervous about how protracted the inevitable shortage and delayed delivery of imported building products will be. This is a hit to our industry that is looming over the next few months and additional measures and extensions of some of stimulus measures may be required to help the industry weather that storm.”
