The CFMEU Victoria and Master Builders Victoria have today acknowledged the Victorian Government’s Roadmap announcement and confirm that the building, construction and development industry is ready to open to full capacity as soon as possible.

We welcome the Government’s vote of confidence in our industry and confirm that most steps outlined for moving our sector from ‘Heavily Restricted’ to ‘Restricted’ on 28 September, are ones that our industry has proactively adapted since March.

Our first viewing of any new steps in the ‘Restricted’ phase would suggest they are minor updates on what our industry has been doing for many months and would be achievable for both workers and employers.

We also now clearly see what will be required for our industry to get back to full capacity. What is contained in the roadmap is, largely, what our industry has been doing for some time and is the reason why our sector has had such low infection rates.

And, while we believe that would allow our industry to open safely as soon as possible, we acknowledge the broader community transmission objectives that must be taken into consideration. 

We are confident that our industry can continue to operate under current safety protocols and move to ‘Restricted’ on 28 September. Equally, we believe that our industry will be ready to move to full capacity as soon as practicable and get the Victorian economy kickstarted.

We have continued to collaborate with a united group of employer associations and unions, and we thank the Government for their consultation with our industry over the last few weeks.  There is inevitably some disappointment that our whole industry cannot open to full capacity right now. However, we thank the Government for listening to our input on the roadmap and supporting our industry and workforce - just as our sector is supporting the Victorian economy.

Our industry and members are very much looking forward to getting back to work as soon as possible. 

ATTRIBUTABLE QUOTES:

Rebecca Casson, CEO of Master Builders Victoria

“An advancement to ‘Restricted’ on the roadmap from 28 September will help many of our members increase their capacity and productivity which, in some cases, will mean reopening after this extended period of restrictions end.

“We are very pleased to see an increase to 85% of workers allowed on site for large scale construction.  We are also pleased to see an increase of movement permitted between small scale construction sites, to 5 sites per week.”

"For other parts of our sector, and renovations especially, this news will be extremely tough. However, we will continue to work with the Government and persist in representing the needs of our whole industry."

“Our sector has remained safe since March and now we will focus on continuing our proactive COVID-19 measures in line with the Government’s roadmap, with our collective objective being back to full capacity as soon as possible.”

John Setka, CFMEU

“Since March, we have been committed to lead workers safely through the COVID-19 pandemic. Our priority has always been to protect the safety and livelihoods of our members, their families, and the broader community.

The roadmap announced today is a good start to getting workers back to work with a clear plan to return to full capacity.

The safety measures we have in place are there for the protection of all construction workers, and we are confident we can continue to do just that, so we can lead the recovery of the Victorian economy.”