The centre-left Labor government is looking to resurrect its multi-billion dollar housing fund, a move that has prompted facing fierce pushback from the centre-right Liberals and the left-wing Australian Greens.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Friday that he would bring the bill back into the House of Representatives next week.
Labor’s signature Housing Australia Future Fund aims to provide $10 billion to build 30,000 homes over five years, with a minimum of $500 million spent on social and affordable homes.
Previously, the bill passed the lower house but faced a stalemate in the Senate after the Greens refused to play ball, calling for more support for renters and a larger housing fund.
The Liberals, meanwhile, also criticised the bill for being wasteful and joined forces with the Greens to push back the debate until October.
If the bill is blocked a second time, it could act as a double dissolution which would mean the prime minister could request an early election before the set date in 2025, with all seats in the upper house up for election instead of half.
The Prime Minister said the government had a clear mandate for the bill as it’s “a sensible reform.”
“We’re determined to get this legislation passed. We want it to be passed,” Mr. Albanese said on Friday.
“It’s the largest ever investment by any government in Australia’s history, and what the Greens are doing is standing in front of that, having this rhetoric about refusal to negotiate,” he told ABC Radio.
He claimed the Greens’ opposition to the bill was all based on “politics.”
“Quite clearly, if this legislation is passed, there'll be more investment in social housing. You can’t say you’re for it and then vote against it.”
Liberals Said Bill Was Wasteful, Greens Wanted Larger Fund
Acting opposition leader Sussan Ley criticised Albanese for using the threat of a double dissolution to threaten the Australian people, calling it “the height of arrogance from this Albanese government.”
In a fiery discussion with Education Minister Jason Clare on Friday, she argued Labor’s policies don’t stack up while their “economy-wrecking approach is making it more and more expensive to build a home.”
“We’re seeing builders going broke across the country every day because they can’t keep up with the rising prices,” she told Sunrise.
“This is not putting the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, this is putting the ambulance down the road.”
She said everyday Australians are also doing it tough as inflation “is out of control” and called for the government to devise an urgent plan to tackle the issue.
“Over the past two weeks, I have met individuals experiencing homelessness and support services, and they have told me [that] as a result of the cost-of-living crisis, people who have never needed support are accessing it now.”
In response, Mr. Clare denied the accusation and insisted that the bill is crucial to provide housing for people in need.
“This is a fund to build thousands more homes for women and children fleeing domestic violence, the veterans who fought in Afghanistan who are sleeping in Martin Place, and the Liberal party and the Greens keep voting against this.”
However, he deflected when asked whether Labor would use the housing bill to trigger an early election.
Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather would not cooperate as long as the government still refused to budge. The Greens wanted $2.5 billion for housing, a demand the government knocked back.
“We’re willing to negotiate, but a negotiation takes two to tango and the government saying it’s their way or the highway,” he told Sky News.
“When their way is hundreds of thousands more people waiting for public and affordable housing and millions of renters facing financial stress, that’s not a negotiation.”
