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Laura Valic
Editor
The realities of a labouring job on a building site sent 14-year-old Graham Wolfe high-tailing it back to school with blistered hands after just three days.
But the construction industry still obviously held appeal for the 18-year-old school leaver, and with a ‘head for numbers’ and a couple of qualifications, he returned to building a few years later. Over the next four decades, Graham would carve out a distinguished career spanning large-scale infrastructure projects, building surveying and regulatory development before eventually, in 2018, stepping up to lead Australia’s peak national industry association for residential building.
Graham says joining HIA in the late 1990s was the right fit at the right time. ‘I came in doing technical work which I liked,’ he reveals. ‘Interestingly, I had to learn how a house was built because I’d previously only worked on civil projects and high-rise commercial buildings.’
Over the next 26 years, Graham represented the Association on building code and standards committees, state advisory councils and forums, developing many long-standing relationships with colleagues and members.
‘HIA has offered me so many opportunities and great scope to learn,’ says Graham who’s now handing over the role as HIA Managing Director to Jocelyn Martin. ‘We have extraordinarily good teams at HIA. It’s a fantastic association; it really is a family.’
Part of HIA’s function is to be the advocacy voice for the entire industry. It’s what we’re here for and what we’re good at. The industry would be in a much worse place without the advocacy success of HIA over the past 80 years.
Reflecting on his career, Graham says he realised early that ‘nobody knows it all’. ‘The industry relies on the passing of information backwards and forwards,’ he says. ‘I had help from well-respected and knowledgeable people when I was younger, and so I’ve tried to pass on what I know to others.’
He feels mentoring the new generation of apprentices and trades, so they can learn from the tried and tested expertise of others, is needed in an era when other sources lack detail and accuracy. ‘The problem is knowing how to measure the legitimacy of the information you’re accessing. Improving your judgement on who to trust and listen to is key.’
In this, he sees the important role an association such as HIA can play in delivering accurate and timely information that members can rely upon.
But like anyone who has witnessed the cyclical nature of construction, Graham knows there will always be challenges. Right now, he says it’s tough for businesses to turn a profit with the cost of building increasing and layers of regulations adding further complexities.
‘Builders are remarkable. They’re resilient, and despite all the challenges, the red tape and taxes, they manage to build the homes we live in. It’s what makes them salt of the earth people – which I greatly respect.’
First published on 15 August 2023