Commentary topic
A project does not become viable because it is approved. It has to carry its costs, risks and capital requirements through to completion. This commentary looks beneath construction headlines.
Selected published reading on this subject.
Who Actually Pays? · Future of Property
AI data centres promise billions in investment, but Australia also supplies the land, electricity, infrastructure and construction capacity. Mark Kilroy argues that each project should face a national return test measuring ownership, permanent jobs, exports, local capability, infrastructure contributions and the long-term value Australia retains.
The Kilroy View · Housing & Policy
Chartered quantity surveyor Mark Kilroy examines the question Brisbane 2032 planning keeps avoiding: who is actually going to build it? Queensland has promised 17 new and upgraded Olympic venues within a $7.1 billion envelope — but the independent Games infrastructure review estimated escalation had already added roughly $1.1 billion by March 2025, before major venue construction began. With the Queensland Audit Office projecting an average shortage of about 18,200 construction workers (peaking near 50,000), a $119 billion state capital program, a Queensland-wide Games footprint stretching 1,700 km from Brisbane to Cairns, and the Oxford Olympics Study's 156% average cost overrun as a warning, the piece argues the overlooked cost of the Games may be the homes that never get built — and calls for one consolidated, transparent picture of the full Olympic delivery program.
The Kilroy View · Construction & Costs
Mark Kilroy argues construction cost is only the first cheque. Most of an asset's long-term cost is locked in by design decisions made before completion: a $20 million construction saving can create $60 million in operating, maintenance and replacement costs over 30 years. He makes the case for asset registers built from day one, life cycle planning treated as financial planning, a broader definition of project success based on total cost of ownership, and a quantity surveying profession whose role does not stop at handover — increasingly powered by AI feeding real asset performance back into the next project.
The Kilroy View · Housing & Policy
Recap of the Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce Property Forum at The Star Gold Coast, organised by Mark Kilroy: 300+ developers, business leaders and property professionals examined how the Gold Coast accommodates growth toward one million people ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games. Mayor Tom Tate and Assistant Minister Rebecca Young provided government context before a panel of Adrian Puljich, Michael Matusik, Drew Bowie, Michael McNab and Andrew Gray, MC'd by developer Jack Corbett, debated construction costs, weak productivity, increasingly selective capital, modular construction financing hurdles, vertical communities, and whether a new home can be delivered below $750,000. The core takeaway: house prices can fall and Australia can still have a housing affordability and supply problem.
Who Actually Pays? · Housing & Policy
Quantity surveyors are the professionals who know what housing actually costs to deliver — yet they remain largely absent from Australia's housing debate. Mark Kilroy argues the profession must step forward: construction cost is only part of the story, with approvals, infrastructure charges, finance, insurance, escalation and delay shaping whether projects proceed at all. He calls for housing targets to be backed by independently tested cost plans, for the industry to publish aggregated de-identified evidence on why viable projects become unviable, for quantity surveyors to be involved before policies are set rather than pricing the consequences afterwards, and for the profession to communicate cost in language policymakers and the public can understand.
Who Actually Pays? · Tax & Depreciation
Parliament has banned SMSFs from new limited recourse borrowing for residential property. Builders report 3,613 signed contracts for unbuilt homes are at risk, with 2,415 expected to be cancelled. Mark Kilroy argues the greater damage is hidden: lost pre-sales can push whole developments below their construction finance thresholds, so the projects that never start may cost far more homes than the contracts cancelled today. A targeted new-housing exemption would fix the inconsistency.
Who Actually Pays? · Tax & Depreciation
Australia's housing debate is fixated on supply: more land, more approvals, more density, more targets. But after 25 years across construction cost, property and taxation, Mark Kilroy argues we are avoiding the most important question: what does it actually cost to turn land into a completed home, and how much of the final price is not the land or the building? Every major construction project begins with a cost plan. Australia has housing targets. Where is the cost plan?
Who Actually Pays? · Housing & Policy
Australia has 2.9 million temporary residents driving demand for over a million additional dwellings. Meanwhile the student visa pipeline is funnelling people into white-collar fields AI is already contracting, while construction trades sit at a 54% vacancy fill rate with Brisbane 2032 six years away.
The Number That Matters · Housing & Policy
The headline figures suggest construction costs are moderating. The final accounts of completed projects tell a different story. Fuel, freight, and supply chain repricing are building forward, and most feasibility models have not caught up.
The Kilroy View · Housing & Policy
The real drivers behind cost blowouts are not materials or supply chains. It is labour, productivity, structural inefficiency, and holding pressure.