Labor’s Housing Bill at Risk of Defeat as Crossbench Demand More Social Housing Funds

A general view of public housing towers is seen from Morehead Street in Redfern in Sydney, Australia, on Sept. 16, 2021. Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

As the federal government tries to push through a swathe of new laws this fortnight, its $10 billion (US$6.7 billion) Housing Australia Future Fund is at risk of being shot down by the crossbench.

Under Labor’s proposed law, a cap of $500 million a year will be applied to funding for building new social and affordable housing. Other portions of the fund will go towards improving Indigenous housing and helping women and children with leaving domestic violence situations.

Housing Minister Julie Collins called the fund the “single biggest investment from the federal government in social and affordable housing in more than a decade.”

The Coalition have already expressed its opposition, leaving Labor to continue negotiation with the Greens and Independent Senators Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock if the bill is to have a chance of passing the upper house.

However, Greens spokesperson for housing and homelessness, Max Chandler-Mather, called the fund a “disastrous plan” that would gamble away $10 billion on the stock market.

Chandler-Mather said the Greens would support the legislation if Labor agreed to commit $5 billion every year in direct investment to public and affordable homes for the next decade.

“If Labor can find $368 billion to fund AUKUS, which will amount to $12 billion a year on average, then they should be able to stump up $5 billion a year to make sure Australians have a good place to call home,” he said.

(L-R) Greens candidate for the seat of Griffith Max Chandler-Mather, party leader Adam Bandt, Queensland senate candidate Penny Allman-Payne and Queensland Senator Larissa Waters take a selfie during the Greens national campaign launch at Black Hops Brewery in Brisbane, Australia, on May 16, 2022. Dan Peled/Getty Images

With Labor only holding 26 of 76 Senate seats and the Greens holding 11, the federal government needs to reach a consensus with the Greens to have any chance of passing the bill.

Meanwhile, the Greens have also launched a door-knocking campaign blitz in Labor seats across the country, targeting renter hotspots.

Chandler-Mather said the feedback received from the thousands of people they spoke to was clear.

“The Greens should not support Labor’s plan that does nothing for renters and will make the crisis worse, until Labor is willing to make substantial changes that include direct investment in more public housing and a national plan for renters,” he said.

“People were shocked to hear that with the shortage of social and affordable housing projected to grow by 75,000 to 715,000 homes in the next five years, Labor only planned to build 30,000 homes at the most, depending on the success of their gamble on the stock market.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has urged the Coalition to rethink its position against the bill.

Independents Want ‘More’

Senator Lambie said she supported the bill in general but was still in negotiations to “get more bang for our buck.”

She was also concerned about the $500 million yearly cap and how it would fare as inflation rises. Further, if Labor was to deliver on its promised 30,000 social and affordable homes in the first five years of the cap, each house would need to cost less than $83,000.

“That’s only going to end up to about $80,000 a house—where’s the rest of money coming from? So that is a real worry for us,” Lambie told ABC radio. “At this point time, nobody has a house built for that amount of money.”

However, Lambie did not specify the exact figures that she would like the see the yearly cap to be at.

“I think we will support whoever we can to make sure that these houses are well and truly covered and they pay for it before they even leave Parliament,” she said.

Senator Jacqui Lambie reacts as she speaks in the Australian Senate at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on September 3, 2020 . Photo by David Gray/Getty Images

Senator Pocock also said the $10 billion fund would “not cut it” given the scale of social housing that Australia needed.

“What I’m saying to the government and a number of crossbenches are saying is: This is a good start. We like the idea, but let’s get more ambitious,” he told ABC radio.

As senator for the Australian Capital Territory, Pocock said his jurisdiction would get 540 homes at best under Labor’s proposal.

“Our social housing waitlist is 3,100,” he said. “So that just kind of puts it in perspective.”

“It’s great to have a government that wants to address this but let’s be ambitious. Let’s have policy that is actually up to the task.”

Building Sector in Support

Meanwhile, Master Builders Australia (MBA) previously urged the crossbench and opposition to support the proposed bill, arguing it will provide an opportunity for the federal government to embed housing as a core infrastructure policy.

“Finding solutions to the issue of affordable housing is imperative as it poses one of the country’s biggest challenges, and we must work together to address it,” MBA chief executive, Denita Wawn, told a Senate inquiry on Feb. 24.

“We urge the opposition and crossbench senators to take a pragmatic approach for sensible reform.”

However, she noted that the fund would need to be increased from $10 billion to $20 billion to meet the 800,000 dwellings needed by 2035.

MBA is also seeking a commitment from all levels of government to redirect one percent of developmental taxes to social and affordable housing and recommends that the $10 billion investment be made in addition to existing programs, not as a replacement.

Henry Jom contributed to this report.