Retirees Could Be Called Upon to Help End Housing Crisis

Australian Opposition Leader Peter Dutton during post Budget media interviews at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on May 15, 2024. Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images

Coalition Leader Peter Dutton has emphasised the importance of using Australia’s existing workforce to address the critical shortage of skilled labour needed to meet housing demands.

“We can access a workforce that’s readily available here in Australia now, and that includes people who have retired early but want to come back into the workforce,” Dutton told ABC radio.

He noted that these individuals are currently prevented from doing so by the overlap between the welfare and tax systems.

Currently, if an early retiree starts earning enough income that their pension entitlements drop to zero, the Age Pension can be suspended. If the person’s income drops again, it can usually be reinstated within two years.

“People can’t work more than a day or a few hours a week before it affects their pension, but if we can change that, it could be a significant part of the solution,” he said.

Housing and Migration

Dutton criticised the government’s handling of the migration programme, saying that the current policies have compounded the housing crisis by failing to plan for a population increase.

“The government has brought in 1.67 million people over five years—a city the size of Adelaide—without any planning. We’re at an 11-year low for building approvals, and productivity in the building sector is at an all-time low,” he said.

The Coalition has announced cutting permanent migration to about 140,000 a year as election policy.

When asked if the cut would impact industries such as healthcare, Dutton acknowledged that the composition of the immigration programme would need further adjustment to prioritise sectors most in need, including tradespeople.

“We'll have more to say about the composition of the policy when we see exactly where the demand is, but the government has deprioritised skilled trades through the migration programme, bowing to demands from the CFMEU. This has had a distortionary effect on the economy,” he said.

He further claimed that construction union’s influence has contributed to a decline in productivity in the sector.

“The CFMEU has had a massive impact on the building sector. Productivity is way down, and their methods, including ties to bikie gangs, have been devastating for the industry,” he added.

CFMEU was put under administration in August of this year due to rampant accusations of corruption.

The Business Council of Australia (BCA), in a report launched on Oct. 21, also urged stronger laws to eliminate corruption in the construction sector, which contributes to unsafe and unproductive building sites.

It also confirmed that the sector’s productivity has declined significantly in the last decade.

The report proposed simplifying regulatory processes and promoting apprenticeships in the construction trades to combat rising labour and material costs.

Urgent Need for reforms

On the broader housing policy, Dutton emphasised the Coalition’s focus on creating 500,000 new homes to meet growing demand. He positioned his party’s approach as aspirational, aiming to attract support from suburban marginal electorates.

“There’s something wrong with our system when young people have given up on the dream of homeownership,” Dutton said, noting that many parents and grandparents also share concerns about their children and grandchildren being priced out of the housing market.

Last week, Dutton announced a $5 billion housing policy to speed up the construction of 500,000 new homes by funding critical infrastructure like sewerage, water, and power.

The plan promises to address supply issues by focusing on greenfield developments. Funding will be available on a “use-it-or-lose-it” basis to encourage swift developer action.

Dutton’s comments come as the BCA and the Australian Institute for Progress (AIP) have both called for urgent housing reforms.

A recent BCA report highlighted a shortfall of 64,000 homes annually, with high taxes and restrictive zoning regulations cited as key barriers to increasing supply.

The BCA report also revealed that taxes, including the GST, now account for roughly one-third of the cost of new housing, pushing up prices.

Both the BCA and AIP have proposed reforms to ease the crisis, including a focus on reducing population growth to manageable levels and simplifying building codes.

They also recommend creating a national reform fund to encourage states and territories to streamline housing regulations and approval processes.