THE HON DAVID LITTLEPROUD MP
Leader of The Nationals
Shadow Agriculture Minister
SENATOR THE HON BRIDGET MCKENZIE
Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development
Leader of The Nationals in the Senate
14 October 2025
Bendigo Regional Housing Roundtable demands action on 83,000 tradies shortages
Builders and local government representatives have met in Bendigo today, demanding Labor fix housing trade shortages and do more to help first homebuyers.
Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud and Nationals Senator for Victoria the Hon Bridget McKenzie joined with the Housing Industry Association (HIA) to host the Regional Housing Roundtable, as shortages of key trades remains one of the biggest barriers to delivering the Albanese Government’s 1.2 million target of homes.
Mr Littleproud said Labor is failing to get enough homes built, with the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council reporting the supply of new homes remains at the lowest in a decade.
“We can fix the fundamentals with common sense, but with only 177,000 new dwellings completed in 2024, the Government isn’t even coming close to meeting demand,” Mr Littleproud said.
“We have heard at the roundtable that builders are facing shortages in excess of 83,000 tradies.
“That’s more chippies, more sparkies, more plumbers, more brickies, more concreters needed – these are the essential tradies to get our homes built.”
Senator McKenzie said the dream of home ownership seems out of reach for young Australians.
“The Reserve Bank Governor admitted at Senate Estimates that Labor’s first home policy will push up prices, making houses even less affordable for families and first homebuyers,” Senator McKenzie said.
“By locking young families into debt of up to 95 per cent of the total value of a house, Labor is leaving people extremely exposed to economic downturns or risk of losing their home if they lose their job.”
HIA’s Housing the Regions report shows in the June 2024 quarter, 27 per cent more people moved from cities to regional areas, while around three quarters of city dwellers moving to the regions have settled in New South Wales or Victoria, in larger towns such as Bendigo.
HIA Chief Executive of Industry and Policy Simon Croft said one third or 8.5 million people now live outside metropolitan areas and one of the biggest issues for regional areas such as Bendigo is infrastructure, more roads and water.
“Getting labour is a big constraint with supply issues and actually getting the houses built,” Mr Croft said.
“These days it really also comes down to land and getting the land through the planning system, let alone getting stuck in environmental approvals for years and then it’s further compounded by navigating the web of over 2000 pages of the National Construction Code (NCC).”
Lansell Homes CEO Jeff Smith said the greater the delay in releasing land supply, the greater the risk of increasing home prices.
“We need to improve new home affordability and we need to help first homebuyers get into their first home and make it possible for them to live the Australian dream,” Mr Smith said.
“The problem at the moment is that we are increasing housing demand without increasing the supply of land. This results in driving up home prices and taking more first home buyers out of the market.”
