A surge in construction in preparation for the 2032 Olympic Games has made Brisbane tradies the highest-paid in the country.
A report released earlier this year by quantity surveying firm Turner & Townsend found that Brisbane tradies commanded a whopping $104 an hour on average, almost 4 per cent more than cities like Melbourne and Sydney.
While not the most expensive city to build in, Brisbane’s growing infrastructure spending and building hype for the upcoming Olympic games has trade jobs more in demand than ever before – allowing many tradies to name their price.
This should come as no surprise after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s announcement of the 90 billion dollar ‘Big Build‘ initiative earlier this year saw the state ignite a decade-long construction boom.
A $20.321 billion capital investment in the 2023-24 State Budget is already in place to support the delivery of the state’s biggest transformational projects and “provide essential services for Queenslanders”.
Of this initial investment, over 35 per cent of funds (7.1 billion) will be spent purely bolstering infrastructure projects in South East Brisbane.
This capital program alone will directly support around 58,000 jobs across the state, with projects around Brisbane expected to support 38,500 jobs.
These major projects include the 10-year $7.1 billion Brisbane 2032 venues infrastructure program, the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan, the delivery of major water infrastructure and better health and transport facilities and services.
Premier Palaszczuk said that the decade of the Big Build will deliver big results for Queensland.
“Infrastructure investment means more jobs, exciting new industries and better essential services like health and transport,” she said.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles also said Queenslanders are in the “golden decade” for opportunities.
In an interview with the Financial Review earlier this year, Turner & Townsend property head Matt Billingham said that “the volume of work hitting the Queensland market over the next few years is going to continue to push demand up”.
In the coming years, direct Olympic-related construction will also be significant. Queensland has already committed $2.7 billion towards the major redevelopment of the Gabba cricket ground – nearly triple the state government’s original $1 billion budget for a flagship venue.
The federal government will put in $2.5 billion for a new 17,000-seat Brisbane arena development in the Roma Street precinct, and 16 new or upgraded venues will get close to $1.87 billion in co-funding split equally between the two tiers of government.
While the population of Brisbane will only grow in the years leading up to the Olympic games, the city’s rush to build has created worker shortages – driving tradie salaries up even further.
Concluding their report, Turner & Townsend noted that the city’s skills shortages are “expected to continue for some time” and continue to drive up labour costs.
