- Gooday Construction Newsletter
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- 05/08/2025
05/08/2025
🏗 🚧 🌏 🛠 🚀 🦺 ♻ 🤖 🧱 🏛 🧰
THE MORNING PAPER FOR CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS AND TRADIES
🚨 Safety Updates
As Tradies National Health Month 2025 begins, the APA urges Australia’s tradies to seek the care they need to prevent injuries and treat chronic pain. Evidence shows that many of Australia’s existing tradies live in chronic pain, negatively impacting their quality of life, job performance and work.
✒ Headlines & Industry
China’s massive industrial subsidies threaten 73,000 Australian jobs in refining and smelting, key to construction supply chains. Losing domestic metal production risks project delays, higher costs, and regional decline. The government must act—supporting local industry and securing materials vital for infrastructure, housing, and Australia’s broader construction-led economic resilience.
🏗️ Projects
ACT
Capital Property Group’s landmark project at Northbourne Avenue and London Circuit will feature three connected office buildings with a two-level podium, delivering 62,700 sqm of office space. Construction includes three basement levels, 280 public parking spaces, sustainable design targeting 6-star NABERS, rooftop solar, and EV charging infrastructure.
NSW
Stockland will acquire a site near Kingscliff in northern NSW with the approval to develop about 4500 homes from billionaire Bob Ell’s Leda Holdings in a deal worth about $600 million.
AGL Energy has reached a final investment decision on its 500MW, four‑hour duration Tomago battery project in the Hunter Region of New South Wales.
A wind farm within the South West Renewable Energy Zone (SW REZ), has been approved by the NSW Independent Planning Commission.
QLD
The procurement push for Brisbane 2032 Games infrastructure has begun, with Queensland’s newly established Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority (GIICA) opening Expressions of Interest for a major Infrastructure Delivery Partner.
Chatham Rock Phosphate has outlined its progress after launching a feasibility study in June for its RailPhos private railway project in North-West Queensland. The project connecting the company’s Korella North phosphate mine to the Port of Karumba involves developing the long-mooted Cloncurry to Normanton rail line with an extension to Karumba.
Queensland councils will share in $88 million in joint Commonwealth–State funding to deliver critical infrastructure upgrades. A suite of works aimed at reducing isolation and improving emergency access in rural and remote communities has been funded under the new Crucial Access Links Program.
The Queensland Government has fast-tracked a $20 million emergency works package for Bribie Island, with Hall Contracting and RN Dredging named as preferred contractors.
SA
Important maintenance upgrades to SA Water’s 358km-long Morgan to Whyalla Pipeline are now complete, improving the reliability of this vital drinking water network. SA Water’s crews from across South Australia worked together as a team to deliver the complex project, which involved replacing the above-ground pipeline’s crossover valve used to isolate sections of the trunk main for repairs and help maintain the supply of drinking water to more than 130,000 homes and businesses who rely on it across the Barossa, Mid North, Yorke Peninsula and Eyre Peninsula regions.
TAS
Marinus Link Pty Ltd (MLPL) and its shareholders have made a Final Investment Decision to proceed with Stage 1 of Marinus Link interconnector. MLPL said the decision confirms that there is a sound financial and economic investment case for proceeding with the construction phase of Marinus Link Stage 1, based on an assessment of forecast costs, revenue, associated benefits and risks.
VIC
Frankston City’s $72.9 million capital works plan highlights construction as key to meeting population growth. Major investments include stadium upgrades, roads, drainage, early years facilities, and precinct revitalisations. By focusing on timely, community-driven construction, the council aims to boost liveability, attract development, and future-proof infrastructure without accumulating unsustainable debt.
WA
Construction is under way on a new freight hub east of Perth that should reduce the number of trucks on major roads, speed up logistics, and improve road safety on the approaches to the city. It is a $250 million project Mr Key said would bring more than 600 jobs to Northam.
🧰 Construction Au Other
CreditorWatch has launched a practical guide to help subcontractors and suppliers reduce their risk exposure to credit risk and get paid faster.
🚀 Innovation, Digital & Futuristic Technology
Balfour Beatty is also partnering with Microsoft to develop AI-powered “smart agents” to improve Quality, Health & Safety and Assurance processes.
Delays on construction projects can cost thousands of dollars per day, yet the way teams track site progress often lags the pace at which decisions need to be made. Even $100M-plus builds still rely on weekly updates, email threads and manual status reports.
Artificial intelligence adoption among construction firms has shown a dramatic increase in the US and Canada, with more than nine out of 10 using some form of the technology, according to a new study.
🌱 Sustainability & Environment
Australia’s climate response must prioritise construction. Faster approvals and streamlined environmental laws will accelerate clean energy and resilient housing projects. Incentives should support low-emission construction methods and materials. Smarter policies can cut costs, attract investment, and boost productivity—making construction central to achieving net zero and preparing for climate impacts.
Advanced mining processes that reduce waste and environmental impact will be a focus of a new industrial transformation hub funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC). The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney has received a $5 million ARC grant to research innovative, more sustainable approaches to extracting critical minerals and strategic materials.
All new buildings must be emissions-neutral by 2030 and all existing buildings by 2050 if Australia is to meet its climate change targets, says the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).
Noise walls containing 75 per cent recycled plastic will be installed at one of Melbourne’s largest infrastructure projects. The noise walls, installed along an 11-kilometre stretch of Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway, will divert 104 tonnes of hard-to-recycle plastic waste from landfill – equivalent to 2.4 million two-litre milk bottles.
🌏 Around the World
According to the State Statistics Service, the business confidence indicator in the Ukrainian construction market in the third quarter of 2025 increased by 2.5 percentage points compared to the second quarter – up to a negative 32.6% indicator.
As nations embrace nuclear energy, managing construction costs is critical. While the U.S. and France faced soaring expenses, China cut nuclear build costs through standardized designs, strong local supply chains, and stable regulations. Its construction-focused strategy proves nuclear can be built affordably—offering lessons for net zero infrastructure worldwide.
OpenAI, Aker, and Nscale are building “Stargate Norway,” OpenAI’s first European gigafactory, set to open in 2026 near Narvik. Nscale leads design, construction, and operations. Powered by hydropower, it will host 100,000 Nvidia GPUs with an initial 20MW phase costing $1 billion total.
👷♀️ Tradies and Resource
Engineers Australia is urging the Victorian Government to seize the three‑year review of the Professional Engineers Registration Act (PERA) as a chance to strengthen public safety, cut red tape and future‑proof the engineering workforce.
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