PM to promise $10,000 payments to keep young people in construction as cost of living blamed for a shortfall in builders
Apprentice tradies stand to get an extra $10,000 from a re-elected Labor government as Anthony Albanese tries to encourage more young people into construction to help build the 1.2m homes he promised by 2030.
The prime minister will make the $626m promise at the National Press Club on Friday, in his first major speech for the year which will set out Labor’s re-election bid.
In a speech expected to focus heavily on skills, infrastructure and cost of living relief, Albanese will commit to better supporting apprentices to finish their training rather than quit for better-paying jobs.
“We recognise the next generation of tradies, the people we’re counting on to build the new homes we need, are under significant financial pressure,” he will tell the press club in Canberra.
“As a number of apprentices have said, they could earn a lot more stacking shelves in their local supermarket. Too many leave training because they can’t afford to stay.”
Albanese and the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, have both kicked off the election year at a cracking pace, criss-crossing the country with major policy announcements and visits to key electoral battlegrounds.
The prime minister’s speech to the press club is expected to unveil more about Labor’s election pitch, “Building Australia’s Future”, after recent large promises including road funding, aluminium industry support and housing developments.
Labor’s new initiative, titled the key apprentices program, will deliver $10,000 in instalment payments to trainees in housing construction or clean energy – including bricklayers, electricians, plumbers, carpenters and joiners. The government will also increase the allowance paid to apprentices living away from home.
From July 2025, shortly after the election is expected, apprentices will receive $2,000 at the six, 12, 24 and 36-month marks of their apprenticeship, as well as at the completion of their training.
The government has billed this as a way to get more tradespeople into building houses needed to fulfil its “Homes for Australia” policy promise of 1.2m new homes by 2029.
That promise has appeared in jeopardy for some time, with new home construction well behind targets. The Master Builders association warned only on Wednesday that in the year to September 2024, only 165,000 new homes began construction, well below the 200,000 required each year to meet the 1.2m promise.
The association’s CEO, Denita Wawn, cautioned that on this pace only 825,000 homes would be built over the next five years – 350,000 short of the government’s pledge.
The government concedes it needs to invest more into training and retaining builders. The apprenticeship incentive comes in response to a strategic review of the apprenticeship system, which will also be released on Thursday. Albanese’s speech places some blame on cost of living for the shortfall in builders.
“Right now, a first-year carpentry apprentice earns about two-thirds of the minimum wage. Some apprentices earn even less. That’s before you buy tools, safety gear, clothing and boots,” he will say.
