Four Corners: July 17

This week on Four Corners reporter Stephen Long delves into what is wrong with Australia’s building industry.

Australia has experienced the highest rate of construction insolvencies in a decade, and over the past year, nearly 30% of all company failures are in construction.

Stephen and the team follow the supply chain pressures that are driving some builders to the brink, and expose companies who are racking up debt, liquidating and reincarnating leaving countless victims in their wake.

The team asks why the industry’s profit margins are so slim, such that any major disruption can be fatal.

Alongside building companies undone by tough times, there are also those that flout the law.

This report profiles one such Sydney company — its rise and fall show the limits of the system for dealing with insolvent companies and highlight failures of corporate regulation.

In such turbulent economic times, this is a must watch.

Monday 17th July at 8.30pm on ABC.