NSW Government instructs total Sydney apartment construction shutdown
The toughening of COVID-19 restrictions in Greater Sydney will cause massive financial loss for apartment construction companies in spite of state and federal support, industry groups say.
The forecast came after NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced that as of 11.59pm 18th July that all construction would pause until July 30.
Business NSW chief executive Daniel Hunter advised he supported the need for a tougher health response but the economic impawould be immense.
The shutdown of the construction sector alone would trigger a loss of $800 million to $1 billion per week, he advised.
Hunter told the Ray Hadley 2GB program that NSW needed to implement the Victorian style measures which kept construction sites operating at reduced levels (25%) during its extended shutdown last year.
The current Victorian lockdown sees construction continuing for unoccupied premises and new builds. Construction and renovations, including pool installation, painting, and landscaping, must not proceed at occupied Melbourne premises, excepting emergency repairs and maintenance.
Senior government sources had told Hadley that a review of the ban was imminent, but Hadley later advised that he'd gleaned the decision would not be reversed.
Construction workers, other than those living within the hot spot municipalities, can continue to head into regional NSW for work.
Over the weekend Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott called on the NSW government “to find a way through” the ban on the construction industry.
“The shutdown of construction will have a massive economic impact because this is a sector with a long tail through the economy,” said Ms Westacott.
“We have to find a way through on construction as a matter of urgency because there are big financial and health and safety impacts that flow from a sector-wide pause.
“Big projects aren’t a tap that can simply be turned on or off, so we need to start planning now to reopen.”