Outrage after popular building influencer QBS Construction goes on Instagram tirade against Asian builders

A builder popular among tradies on social media has come under fire for a tirade against Asian builders, claiming he has “never hired one, and never will”.

QBS Construction posted a story to their more than 8000-follower-strong Instagram account yesterday of a work site in Auckland’s Point England.

He complained of the messy condition of the work site and claimed Asian tradespeople brought down the “overall standard of builders” and insinuated they are not “real tradesmen”.

A former fan of the popular Instagram account and builder himself Mason, who did not want his last name published, messaged the operator of the Instagram account and condemned the “racist comments”.

“If you can’t see that’s not racist, you’re part of the problem,” Mason wrote to him.

The account replied by claiming the remarks were not racist, posting #notracistjustfacts.

Instead of taking the comments down, the person operating the account doubled down on their comments and said: “I have never hired [an Asian worker] and never will.”

“Idgaf if you think its racist mate, a spade is a spade it’s just a fact,” they wrote back, alongside a slew of insults towards Mason.

Mason told the Herald he couldn’t understand why someone with a popular following among Kiwi tradies would use his platform to condemn an entire race of different builders, rather than use it for “good”, especially in an industry crying out for workers.

“It’s just wrong,” Mason said.

“What if you are a young Asian fella and you are a fan of this guy or if you were following this account and, you know, you have hopes of being a builder and you see that?

“It’s not very motivating, they’re always talking about a shortage of builders in the country and always talking about how we need more young people to be builders.”

He thought the stereotype that it was only “Asian builders” that kept their sites in a messy state was entirely unfounded, as he has seen plenty of sites that are “messy that is run by Caucasians or Europeans.”

QBS Construction was approached for comment by the Herald and replied by sending a screenshot of an apology on its Instagram page after it removed the initial post.

“I’m aware that I have offended some people recently with a post, for that I apologise,” it read.

“My frustration was directed at the [mistreatment] of the building industry and the lack of respect for sites, materials and also health and safety responsibilities by these groups on many developments and building sites across Auckland.”

They continued: “I did not mean this to be racist in any way but understand how it has been seen as that.

“I stand by my personal opinion of how sites are being treated and if I am punished for that so be it.”

The post ended by reading: “I understand my selection of words could have been better and I’m truly sorry to anyone who was offended by it.”