7 minute read
HOUSING IMPACT ON JOB SHORTAGES
by Boylen
From the President
DAVID BASHEER
This column has devoted many paragraphs to the urgent need to reform our migration policies as a key trigger to ease our chronic labour shortage.
Some very hard-earned migration concessions have seen an easing of our labour issues, notwithstanding there is much more to be done to restore the labour market balance. That market imbalance has meant the much-discussed lack of wage growth has not occurred in our industry.
Many of our members have taken advantage of the new found availability of overseas workers. Agencies such as AHA|SA Corporate partners Migration Solutions and The Kingsmenhave assisted in bringing out specialised labour, whilst the return of overseas students has been an important boost.
However, stalling these gains is the scarcity of housing. A major issue in the metropolitan area and an even greater concern for many of our regions.
To give credit, the Malinauskas Government has shown genuine intent to ease the housing shortage.
Premier Peter Malinauskas is on the public record of backing urban growth and new houses in regional developments. We must now remove unreasonable barriers to make that happen in a timely manner. New land releases in areas such as Dry Creek and Sellicks Beach can be great drivers to ease our housing issues, but we don’t need drawn out lead times.
The opportunity for more infill projects, such as converting the abandoned Franklin Street Bus Station to housing, are also great levers to move forward in a positive manner.
Backing that up, a report released by the Business Council of Australia ranked South Australia as having the best planning system in the country. And after politics seemed more prevalent than policy, the Federal Government has finally passed its ambitious bill hoping to build one million homes over the next five years.
Despite that, all three tiers of Government stand guilty of past and present poor decision making as outdated planning laws, strangling red tape and over caution have combined to lead us to the current social and economic failure.
The housing crisis is very much part of the daily news cycle, yet it was staggering to learn builders and developers in SA are required to navigate a 5,423-page document to gain planning approvals, meaning planning applications can take months to be approved.
The Advertiser reported an Urban Development Institute of SA poll local whereby councils were the biggest hinderance to efficient development delivery. Any hotelier that has tried to facilitate business with local government would identify with those sentiments. Their reflex response to any request too often is ‘No’.
Master Builders SA CEO, Will Frogley ,absolutely nailed it when he said “If we have enough available land to gain a strong affordability advantage we can attract more working aged people to the state.”
Frogley noted there are delays of up to 15 years from the time land is identified for housing to when people can move in. Most of our members need their sous chef relocating form interstate or overseas, or moving from the city to Port Lincoln, to start a bit quicker than that.
It is critical governments stay sensitive to the current crisis and ahead of the game to increase the housing supply. Equally, in the regions where availability of land is not an issue, services are needed to ensure the people can live there.
Today’s crisis is a generational failure of government.
In the current environment, no policy at the three levels of government can be allowed to decrease supply. Landlord rent caps? What are they thinking?
This housing crisis is a genuine social issue, but the economic impediment is very real.
And for the daily lives of our members trying to fill their employment vacancies and grow their own businesses, they need to know governments and councils are sensitive to their urgent needs and remove any unreasonable barriers to get the houses built.
Airbnb Changes Needed
Adding to the scarcity of housing stock is the letting of short-term rentals by Airbnb, which in Australia avoids regulations imposed in most other parts of the World.
So what do London, Amsterdam, Paris, San Francisco, Barcelona, Berlin, Hong Kong and New York have in common? They have regulatory structures to manage Airbnb in these international cities. Many restrict Airbnb properties to a maximum of 90 days a year. A similar regulation here would free up valuable long-term rental stock.
Cooking With Gas
Simmering under the surface is a move from some State governments and local councils to want to phase out gas from kitchens.
For hotel operators, this is both a financial and an operational nightmare.
In early 2023, there was much media speculation that the Federal Government as part of its deal to pass its energy price cap legislation, wanted to remove gas as part of the energy mix. The media speculation was that this would in turn mean commercial kitchens would have to shift from cooking with gas to cooking with electricity.
The AHA has sought to be ahead of the curve. We have spoken to key players federally and at State level for them to understand how crippling this would be for our members.
Apart from political engagement on this issue, the AHA has also brought in other affected parties to garner their support.
Who will make the decisions to turn off gas?
Decisions are currently being made at all levels of government to restrict natural gas. The Federal Government wants 82% renewable energy by 2030.
In the ACT, from 1 January 2023, all gas connections to new builds (including older suburbs) are banned - that represents about two-thirds of Canberra homes that currently use natural gas.
Victoria, which is the highest gas user in the nation, will ban gas connections from next year for new builds, subdivisions, schools, hospitals and public and social housing.
The Sydney City Council in August 2023, voted to investigate how to change the council’s local planning rules to ban new gas connections. Pleasingly, NSW Premier Minns has ruled out banning new gas connections, saying the state already has enough energy supply issues.
(But in Sydney’s elite eastern suburbs, a new type of power is being trialled, with the first step taken in creating Australia’s poopowered gas industry. My best advice to members is not to promote that energy source too heavily on menus!)
In SA, discussions with both major parties regarding gas, suggest neither has currently expressed any interest in going down this route. But this is still an area where not a lot of actual information exists. Decisions are being made ad hoc at all three levels of government. But the consequences for our members are real.
AHA members, like the entire community, have obligations around environmental responsibility. But our small and family business should not be expected to be the financial spear carriers, and just because this issue is not getting a lot of attention does not mean we are not an interested party to the discussions.
Vale Russell Elmes
The hotel industry was saddened by the passing of Russell Elmes.
Russell was a pioneer in our industry, highlighted by his introduction of the highly successful Charlie’s Diner buffet concept at the Scott Elmes Group of Hotels. He also served our industry in his role as Chairman of the Liquor Smart/ Thirsty Camel Liquor Group for a decade.
On behalf of the industry, I would like to extend my condolences to Raelene and family.
Congratulations
Finally, in what has been my most pleasing duty of the last month, I was honoured to witness the induction of Lisa Matthews and Loretta Wilmshurst into the Women In Hotels Hall of Fame.
Strong, intelligent, innovative – the list of their shared attributes could fill this entire page. Both Loretta and Lisa are very worthy recipients of this high honour and their stories will be told over the next two issues of Hotel SA magazine.
The entire Women In Hotels event was a stunning success. It is further evidence that the AHA|SA plays a leadership role in ensuring that women are valued, supported and treated equally throughout our industry.
