Fact Check on Diaper Dutton about Australia having the most expensive building costs and the CFMEU

Verdict: False.

Explanation: While Australia is the fourth most expensive country for construction labour, it has nothing to do with the CFMEU.

The construction labours costs were raising at a faster rate when the Coalition were in charge than under the Albanese Government, but that is because of the supply chain disruptions according to a Liberal Party lobby ‘Property Council of Australia’.

Although the Property Council of Australia had links towards former Liberal Party Prime Minister Scott Morrison as the Manager of the Policy and Research for the Property Council of Australia from 1989 to 1995, they reported that the worst of the supply chain disruptions has eased.

The worst of the supply chain disruptions occurred because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, which Australia was not immune to. Although supply chain bottlenecks haven’t been as severe in Australia compared to the United States, Australia was overall rated 75.5 out of 100 during the pandemic for Supply Chain Vulnerability in the 2022 Supply Chain Vulnerability Index.

However, the CFMEU has received more power from the Industrial Relations Reforms Bill 2022 which was partially designed to expand multi-employer enterprise bargaining. As the CFMEU received more power, construction labour has slowed down in its price increases; again there is no correlation between CFMEU’s power increase and construction labour cost increases.

Links:

https://thepropertytribune.com.au/international-property/the-most-expensive-countries-and-cities-for-construction-labour/

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/producer-price-indexes-australia/latest-release#construction

https://www.propertycouncil.com.au/property-australia/worst-is-behind-us-whats-ahead-for-construction-costs-in-2023

https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=E3L

https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/smp/2021/may/box-b-supply-chains-during-the-covid-19-pandemic.html

https://www.cromwellpropertygroup.com/research-and-insight/insight/the-supply-chain-crisis-explained

https://www.investmentmonitor.ai/features/supply-chain-vulnerability-index-2022/

https://employsure.com.au/blog/industrial-relations-reforms-bill-what-do-you-need-to-know/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVv63VFKpEE (1:12 to 7:28 where segment between Richard Marles and Peter Dutton had their interviews, claim can be found 7:02 to 7:16)

Context is a dirty word in conservative world.