Senator Bragg - Statement - Productivity Inquiry Hearings – Housing Red Tape

Productivity Inquiry Hearings – HousingRed Tape

The Senate hearings into productivity and red tape in the housing sectorhave laid bare the Government’s failure to cut red tape.

Labor expanded the National Construction Code (NCC) in 2022 to over2,000 pages.

This has added tens of thousands of dollars to new builds. It is goldplating on steroids. 

It has destroyed the ability of an Australian to build a cheap house ifthat is their wish.

Why should a young Australian have to pay for mandatory grab rails inbathrooms? 

The vested interests have been allowed to stick every last randomconcept into the NCC which is now in the words of one stakeholder “a solutionto everything."

Jim Chalmers and Clare O’Neil promised to cut the NCC’s red tape burden"swiftly", but all they have done is introduce a new version which iseven more complex. 

Further, it was revealed that in O’Neil’s solitarymeeting with the Australian Building Codes Board, she did not ask for ways tocut costs for builders. 

The Building Codes Board was also unable to answer simple questions onhow much the incremental changes of the NCC have cost the economy andAustralians over time. 

After the dynamic duo conclude their 2026 NCC Preview, they willapparently have a freeze of the code for four years, this is despite theirparallel review of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).

It seems if any good ideas come from the MMCreview, they can’t be included in the NCC for four years.

You couldn’t make it up. 

Labor has no plan to make the NCC better, apparently only to do nofurther harm. 

The Committee heard the ambition of the industry to get back to an NCCcloser to 200 pages. This is seen to be achievable. 

The Government is addicted to gimmicks and tinkering. But theirtinkering with the NCC won’t fix the red tape emergency and soaring costs inthe housing sector. 

The Committee’s hearings continue.

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