Builder Sonny Fulton has had a tough 18 months.
Despite being in the middle of a building boom and working harder than ever before, his Rockhampton business is losing money.
The cost of building a new home rose by 20 per cent in 2021 due to material shortages, disrupted supply chains and demand for skilled tradespeople.
It is now set to be even more expensive due to a 35 per cent tariff increase on imports from Russia and Belarus imposed by the federal government.
"It's very hard … sometimes you don't want to be in the industry anymore," Mr Fulton said.
"If this is going to be it for the next two or three years, I'll be saying goodbye to it because you just can't sustain it."
Russian imports to cost 'thousands' more
Master Builders deputy chief executive Paul Bidwell said while timber from Russia and Belarus accounted for a small portion of Australia's overall lumber imports, it included laminated beams used as structural supports in new house construction.
He said it was another hit to an industry already under pressure because of supply chain delays and soaring building costs.
Mr Bidwell said the time it took to build a house had also doubled in the past year.
"It might have taken three or four months to build a new home, and now it's taking eight months," he said.
"It's getting worse. On top of all the COVID-related supply chain issues and on top of this global boom in building … all these things just piling on."
New homes costing $100,000 more to build
For Mr Fulton, the increased tariff on imported timber has added to the already soaring costs of running his building business.
"It's a big chunk for us that we have to wear," he said.
Mr Fulton said he had just finished building a house that he initially quoted to cost $380,000 in mid-2020.
It ended up costing around $480,000 to build.
He said given the contract was fixed price, he had to bear the extra costs.
"So we're not making any money, we're actually losing money, but we're working harder for it," he said.
Mr Fulton says he is now only doing variation contracts.
"We can't quote anything — if you quote a client more than a month out, you just don't know exactly what price hikes you're going to get," he said.
"We've scared off six builds because of the way that we set up that contract.
"The banks aren't approving these houses because they want fixed price contracts, so it makes it really hard.
"You're trying to give the client what they want, but at the end of the day it could go $80,000 or $100,000 over what they can afford."
Election calls to reduce import reliance
The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) said the timer shortage and supply chain disruptions highlighted a hidden issue the country had been experiencing for decades.
"Of course, there's an enormous amount of timber that's going to get bound up in this conflict in Ukraine, and that's going to make it even harder to supply the homes we need.
"It's been an issue for a long time, but it's been rather hidden because the timber has been flowing into Australia. The shelves haven't been empty, so people haven't noticed."
Building material price hikes biteAFPA has called on the major parties to commit to planting 1 billion production trees to meet Australia's future timber needs.
"All governments need to have a plan to plant sufficient trees to supply Australia's timber needs," Mr Hampton said.
"We dropped that ball two or three decades ago, and it's time to be picked up."
Coalition commits $219.5 to forestry sector if re-elected
The Coalition has today committed almost $220 million to Australia's forestry industry, in a bid to shore up domestic timber supplies and secure 73,000 jobs in the sector.
"Global demand for wood products is set to quadruple by 2050, so this investment in the jobs and future of the forestry industry is critical," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement.
The funding includes $112.9 million to accelerate the adoption of new wood processing technologies and $100 million for a National Institute for Forest Products Innovation with up to five regional centres of excellence.
It also includes $6.6 million for the existing 11 regional forestry hubs to help local industry and business connect with cutting edge research.
In a statement, Labor's agriculture spokesperson, Julie Collins, said forestry was part of Labor's $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund.
"[This] will help to value add to the sector and unlock new jobs and investment," she said.
