The solicitor-general has confirmed Labor’s troubled housing bill has failed to pass parliament, and a second misfire would be grounds for a double-dissolution election.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed he had received legal advice the $10 billion housing future fund had officially failed to make it through the upper house.
If the bill fails a second time, the government has the option of calling a double dissolution of parliament, triggering an early election for both houses.
The Greens delayed the proposed housing future fund until October in the Senate on Monday with the support of the opposition.
The fund has faced an uphill battle in the Senate, with the coalition and much of the crossbench taking issue with the proposal.
A range of concessions got key independents over the line, but the Greens have been holding out, with protections for renters still a major sticking point.
The minor party is gunning for a two-year rent freeze and caps on increases after that to protect tenants from large and frequent price hikes.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers met virtually with his state and territory counterparts to discuss the national housing accord on Friday.
No statement was issued after the meeting.
Rent controls are being considered in Victoria, but other states, including New South Wales, have poured cold water over the suggestion.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was irrational for the Greens to support more public housing yet block a bill designed to unlock finance for social and affordable homes.
“The time for these political games is well past,” he said on Friday.
Albanese said the fund was not the government’s only response to the housing affordability challenge, with a $2 billion funding injection for social housing announced last week.
While not directly related to the live negotiations over the housing fund, the Greens heralded the funding through the housing accord as a win, but the party still wants movement on renters’ rights.
Many areas have recorded rent rises of more than 10 per cent as high demand for properties and low supply puts landlords in a position to charge higher rates.
Rents are expected to keep rising as the population grows because of the rebound in migration post-pandemic, while high construction costs and interest rates are keeping a lid on home-building.
