Can't find a tradie? Here's why
Kanebridge News
Share Button

Can’t find a tradie? Here’s why

By Robyn Willis
Tue, Aug 2, 2022 9:34amGrey Clock < 1 min

Trades availability is at the lowest point since measuring began, according to a report released by the Housing Industry Association.

The HIA Trades Availability Index released last Friday reports a decline from -0.9 to -0.92 in the June 2022 quarter, revealing a persistent  skilled trade shortage across all regions in Australian according to HIA economist Tom Devitt.

“Any number below zero indicates a skills shortage and this result reflects the most significant shortage since the inception of the report in 2003,” said Mr Devitt.

He said as of March this year, there were more than 100,000 houses under construction across Australia, almost 80 per cent higher than pre-COVID levels, with limited access to skilled trades from overseas putting further strain on resources.

“In recent months, we have seen improvements in several international and domestic supply chain indicators, including an easing in shipping container, oil and timber prices,” Mr Devitt said. “Central banks around the world are also increasing interest rates to reduce demand and combat inflation, and households are shifting their spending back towards services like travel, entertainment and dining out.”

However, he said access to skilled labour was continuing to be problematic. 

“Job vacancies are at record highs in every industry and shortages of skilled trades are likely to persist into 2023, if COVID-related staff absences continue, and overseas workers only slowly return,” Mr Devitt said.

The trades in shortest supply were bricklayers (-1.51), carpentry (-1.34) and roofing (-1.26) with regional Western Australia (-1.13) and Adelaide (-1.11) the hardest hit areas. 



MOST POPULAR

Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts

Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’

Related Stories
Property
Wild cities and concrete corridors: How AI is reimagining the landscape
By Robyn Willis 06/12/2023
Property
Heat coming out of V-shaped property market recovery
By Bronwyn Allen 05/12/2023
Property
Not sure about that apartment purchase? Check out the new digital tool bringing surety back
By KANEBRIDGE NEWS 05/12/2023
Wild cities and concrete corridors: How AI is reimagining the landscape

A new AI-driven account by leading landscape architect Jon Hazelwood pushes the boundaries on the role of ‘complex nature’ in the future of our cities

By Robyn Willis
Wed, Dec 6, 2023 2 min

Drifts of ground cover plants and wildflowers along the steps of the Sydney Opera House, traffic obscured by meadow-like planting and kangaroos pausing on city streets.

This is the way our cities could be, as imagined by landscape architect Jon Hazelwood, principal at multi-disciplinary architectural firm Hassell. He has been exploring the possibilities of rewilding urban spaces using AI for his Instagram account, Naturopolis_ai with visually arresting outcomes.

“It took me a few weeks to get interesting results,” he said. “I really like the ephemeral nature of the images — you will never see it again and none of those plants are real. 

“The AI engine makes an approximation of a grevillea.”

Hazelwood chose some of the most iconic locations in Australia, including the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, as well as international cities such as Paris and London, to demonstrate the impact of untamed green spaces on streetscapes, plazas and public space.

He said he hopes to provoke a conversation about the artificial separation between our cities and the broader environment, exploring ways to break down the barriers and promote biodiversity.

“A lot of the planning (for public spaces) is very limited,” Hazelwood said. “There are 110,000 species of plants in Australia and we probably use about 12 in our (public) planting schemes. 

“Often it’s for practical reasons because they’re tough and drought tolerant — but it’s not the whole story.”

Hazelwood pointed to the work of UK landscape architect Prof Nigel Dunnett, who has championed wild garden design in urban spaces. He has drawn interest in recent years for his work transforming the brutalist apartment block at the Barbican in London into a meadow-like environment with diverse plantings of grasses and perennials.

Hazelwood said it is this kind of ‘complex nature’ that is required for cities to thrive into the future, but it can be hard to convince planners and developers of the benefits.

“We have been doing a lot of work on how we get complex nature because complexity of species drives biodiversity,” he said. 

“But when we try to propose the space the questions are: how are we going to maintain it? Where is the lawn?

“A lot of our work is demonstrating you can get those things and still provide a complex environment.” 

At the moment, Hassell together with the University of Melbourne is trialling options at the Hills Showground Metro Station in Sydney, where the remaining ground level planting has been replaced with more than 100 different species of plants and flowers to encourage diversity without the need for regular maintenance. But more needs to be done, Hazelwood said.

“It needs bottom-up change,” he said. ““There is work being done at government level around nature positive cities, but equally there needs to be changes in the range of plants that nurseries grow, and in the way our city landscapes are maintained and managed.”

And there’s no AI option for that. 

MOST POPULAR

Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts

Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’

Related Stories
Lifestyle
Going warm and fuzzy for the 2024 Pantone Colour of the Year
By KANEBRIDGE NEWS 08/12/2023
Property
Among The Scent Of Eucalyptus
By Robyn Willis 08/11/2023
Lifestyle
ASX uranium stocks go gangbusters as the world turns to nuclear energy
By Bronwyn Allen 31/10/2023
0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyReturn to Shop