Anthony Albanese’s big plan to solve the housing crisis – and why he thinks more immigration could be the answer

Anthony Albanese’s government now wants to import several thousand more tradies as record high immigration worsens Australia’s housing crisis.

Labor’s upcoming budget sets aside $90.6 million to increase the number of skilled workers in the construction sector.

The majority of that money, or $88.8 million, will fund an additional 15,000 free TAFE training places and 5,000 pre-apprenticeship programs over two years from January 2025.

But $1.8 million will also be set aside to accelerate skills assessments for 1,900 potential skilled migrants from first world countries who want to work in Australia’s housing and construction industries.

The funding would also provide more resources to Trades Recognition Australia to assess 2,600 migrants from developing countries whose skills are not formally recognized by national industry bodies.

Anthony Albanese’s government now wants to import several thousand more tradies as record high immigration worsens Australia’s housing crisis (pictured is Taj Singh, who is moving to Australia from Britain in September)

The policy would cover people already in Australia seeking a skilled migration visa, as well as people abroad applying to move.

Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor said migrants with construction skills are being wasted as Uber drivers

Skills and Training Minister Brendan O’Connor said migrants with construction skills are being wasted as Uber drivers.

“There are people here on visas who have skills and who could work in sectors of the economy that are not recognised,” he said.

“What a shame for someone who has the skills to help build a house and all he has to do is drive an Uber.”

“If we can find a faster way to assess and determine the skills of people who have visas in this country and ensure that we build our housing stock, why wouldn’t we do that?”

Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock said on Tuesday that high immigration had increased pressure on the housing market, with the capital’s vacancy rate now below 1 per cent.

‘In terms of the impact on inflation, it is actually not that simple, because yes, new migrants increase demand; they have certainly increased pressure on the housing market, we know that,” she said in Sydney.

‘But on the other hand, they have increased the labor supply.

‘On balance it has not contributed dramatically to inflation, other than putting a lot of pressure on the housing market and that is clearly feeding through to rents.’

Housing Minister Julie Collins said Labour’s latest pre-Budget announcement would help it achieve its plan to build 1.2 million new homes over five years, which would require building 240,000 a year from July 2024 (on the photo shows houses in Oran Park in south-west Sydney). )

Housing Minister Julie Collins said Labour’s latest pre-Budget announcement would help deliver its plan build 1.2 million new homes in five years, which would require 240,000 per year from July 2024.

“What we know is that we haven’t built enough housing in Australia for a number of years,” she said.

“What we know is that compared to the OECD average, the number of homes in Australia is lower. We haven’t built enough housing for a long time.”

Just 168,690 new homes were built last year, while a record 548,800 net new migrants moved to Australia in the year to September.

At an average of 2.5 people per household, that conservatively leaves a shortfall of more than 127,000 new homes to accommodate new permanent and long-term overseas arrivals before births are even taken into account.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers suggested building more homes was also the responsibility of state and territory governments.

“We will have more say on our housing changes in the context of the budget,” he told ABC Radio National on Wednesday.

‘That obviously entails a lot of state and territory responsibility.

‘You asked us earlier in this conversation about the housing construction target.

“And in addition to making sure we have the workforce we need, we also need to make sure the states and territories are bought up as well.”

Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock said on Tuesday that high immigration has increased pressure on the housing market, with the capital’s vacancy rate now below one per cent (pictured are commuters in Parramatta in Sydney’s west )

Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn said high immigration was good for the economy. He revealed net cash profit of $2.4 billion for the three months to March in a third-quarter trading update on Thursday.

“We recognize that all households are feeling the impact of higher inflation and higher rates, but immigration is creating a structural tailwind for the economy,” he said.

The economy is still growing even after Reserve Bank interest rates rose due to high immigration.

But the country has been in per capita recession since mid-2023, with gross domestic product per Australia in decline.