黑洞社区

Contractors including Lendlease and Multiplex are set to see revenues shrink as Melbourne implements tough new covid-19 restrictions.

Lendlease is currently working on the Victorian government鈥檚 $A11bn (拢6bn) Melbourne Metro tunnel project and a $350m (拢191m) mixed-use scheme for Melbourne university.

Multiplex is working on several commercial and residential towers across the city including the $A900m (拢486m) 100-storey Australia 108 tower and the first stage of a multi-tower, mixed-use scheme called Melbourne Square worth $A490m (拢264m).

KPMG estimates the new restrictions will cut 2.5%, or $830m (拢448m), from the output of the Victorian economy as a whole this month.

Melbourne has been put into a stage four lockdown 鈥� the highest set of restrictions 鈥� as it battles a steep rise in new infections.

Victoria鈥檚 premier Daniel Andrews said residents in the Melbourne metropolitan area would be under curfew until 13 September. Measures include residents not being allowed out of their homes between 8pm and 5am and nearly all retail shops being closed.

Andrews, who also declared a state of disaster in Victoria for the first time since the bushfires earlier this year, added: 鈥淔or major construction sites, that means the absolute minimum required for safety 鈥� but no more than 25% of the normal workforce onsite. Small-scale construction will be limited to five people onsite.

鈥淭o date, we鈥檝e almost halved the number of people onsite on some of our biggest government projects. Now we鈥檙e going to go through project by project, line by line to make sure they are reduced to the practical minimum number of workers.鈥�

A Lendlease spokesperson said: 鈥淲e are working to understand how the new directives apply to our local operations.鈥� And a Multiplex spokesperson told 黑洞社区 the firm had been working with the government, unions and other contractors on best practice protocols to operate safely throughout the period. 

She said: 鈥淥bviously these new restrictions will have a significant impact on our business, the supply chain and the workforce generally. We are currently working through the specific implications and what can be safely and sensibly achieved on site.鈥�

Other firms set to be caught up in the lockdown are $A4.5bn (拢2.3bn) turnover John Holland, which is headquartered in Melbourne and a subsidiary of China Communications Construction, and CIMIC Group, which was formerly known as Leighton.

Some trade bodies are concerned the new rules will not make it safe to perform some labour-intensive tasks.

鈥淢any businesses will have to consider whether it鈥檚 feasible to work under the conditions as they are written,鈥� the chief executive of Master Builders Victoria, Rebecca Casson, said. 鈥淟ike all Victorians, we are devastated by the ongoing issues our state is having with covid-19. The decision to scale back the building and construction industry is one we are equally devasted by.鈥�

Construction employs 300,000 people 鈥� about 8.5% of the Victorian workforce 鈥� and represents 13% of the state鈥檚 economy.