Master Builders has made its recommendations to the Premier’s Jobs and Investment Panel in a paper entitled Enhancing Victoria’s economic performance and productivity: Discussion Paper.

We support the Panel’s view that “increasing productivity across the economy is critical for delivering improved living standards for all Victorians” and strongly support the identification of the construction industry as a one of the two priority sectors for reform.

The construction industry makes a significant contribution to the Victorian economy, generating $23.9 billion (or 7.7 per cent) in economic activity and employing over 265,000 people in 2015-16. As the third largest Australian industry, investing in innovation and reform in the building and construction sector will reap substantial benefit for Victoria’s long term economic performance and productivity.

In our submission, we present a number of reform ideas for government consideration to enhance economic performance and productivity, which will contribute to improve living standards for all Victorians. Though our recommendations are multifaceted, the overarching one is for the government to appoint a Minister for Building and Construction with the objective of creating a single strategy for the industry and being accountable for implementation and delivery.

The importance of the building and construction industry and workforce to the future of Victoria creates an imperative for the establishment of a Minister for Building and Construction. This individual would be responsible for the issues in the building and construction industry, with the power to make decisions quickly; the resources to implement those decisions; and the dedicated focus on the building and construction industry.

Click here to see the complete text of Enhancing Victoria’s economic performance and productivity: Discussion Paper.