Hit back at HIA’s ambush of Victoria’s housing minister
As soon as Victoria’s cabinet reshuffle and Nick Staikos were appointed Housing and Building Minister, the Housing Industry Association ambushed the new minister with promises of a “quick win”. Except by winning, they meant delaying the implementation of the National Construction Code 2025, which is due to be implemented at the start of next month.
Excuses ranged from “but the other states have delayed it”, “now’s not a good time” or “won’t somebody think of the builders”.
But construction industry stalwart Bronwyn Weir, author with Peter Shergold of the Building Confidence report, and managing director of Weir Legal and Consulting, hit back on social media, saying Victoria was already lagging other states.
Designs commenced before the latest edition of the NCC was implemented don’t need to be changed to apply the amendments.
“In my experience, this is used very broadly and for long periods of time after the changes come in.” This contrasted with NSW, where once the amendments commence, “all designed needs to be changed.”
Weir called HIA “unhelpful” and said the changes were recommended by the Australian Building Codes Board, and Victoria was abiding by their intergovernmental agreement to have a harmonised building code.
The new 2025 code was designed to solve the most common defect in buildings – water-related defects, which would cost much more to rectify than putting in the amendments, and not introducing it was “irresponsible”.
We know green loans, now there’s blue loans
The Mundaring Water Treatment Plant, 30 kilometres east of Perth, Western Australia, has refinanced $170.5 million for what is understood to be one of the country’s first “blue loans”.
The term is recognised under the Blue Finance Guidelines Version 2.0 from the International Finance Corporation, a subsidiary of the World Bank, as an emerging extension of green loans.
Blue finance recognises financing that supports the sustainable use of freshwater resources, protection of marine environments and drives capital towards the “blue economy”. In this case, the plant is said to have strong sustainability credentials, including designing for environmental protection, operational efficiency and whole of life sustainability. It has a 99 per cent recycling rate for waste, no water loss and uses renewable energy. It maintains high water quality without using chemicals or creating landfill waste and provides EV for use onsite as well as EV charging for staff and guests.
The plant supplies drinking water to 100,000 people in the Goldfields region, and is operated by Helena Water, a consortium consisting of Aberdeen Investments, Acciona Agua and TRILITY. The financing was negotiated by advisors Planum Partners and provided by banks, CommBank and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria.
First Nations microgrid awarded ARENA funding
The Ngardara Solar Microgrid project, based in the Borroloola community in the Northern Territory, has been awarded about $8.4 million in funding through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s First Nations stream. The grant will encourage private and philanthropic investment, putting it on track to financial close by mid-2026 and construction to begin in September.
The project involves a utility-scale microgrid project (a localised small power grid that generates and stores electricity for a specific area), majority owned by the Borroloola community’s Ngardara Cooperative community and designed and developed by First Nations renewable developer Original Power.
It contains a 2.1-megawatt solar array and 1.8 MW battery to help the town achieve 80 per cent renewable penetration, saving 1.2 million litres of diesel and giving First Nation owners access to lower cost, clean and resilient energy. It will provide up to 50 per cent in electricity bill relief for the community through the developer’s benefit sharing arrangements – which applies “solar credits” for households. It will also create local jobs through a development program for 10 employees with Certificate two in Construction and Renewable Energy Pathway and two electrical apprentices.