Brendan Coates, Grattan Institute Household Finances Program Director, who writes that fewer homes will be built in Australia during the coronavirus downturn, which means job losses in the construction industry. But we need to be smart about stimulus.

 

Covid-19 has caused migration to slow to a trickle. About 2.6 million Australians have either lost their jobs or had their hours cut in the past two months which all makes for fewer homes being built in the coming months.

 

That means fewer jobs in the construction industry, which employs nearly one in ten Australians. The Morrison government is set to announce a coronavirus stimulus package for the construction sector as soon as this week.

 

But what should it include?