Labor and Greens locked in 11th-hour impasse over $10bn housing fund
Anthony Albanese’s $10bn housing promise has hit a last minute snag as Labor and the Greens remain at loggerheads.


News.com.au
June 11, 2023

A nationwide freeze on rent increases has emerged as a sticking point with Labor and the Greens enter 11th-hour negotiations in their stalemate over the $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund.

The government will reintroduce its signature housing policy to the Senate in the upcoming sitting fortnight but its passage through parliament isn’t certain, given Labor and the Greens are still at loggerheads.

Labor is yet to reach a deal with the Greens, whose support it needs in order to pass the legislation that would set up the HAFF through the upper house, where it doesn’t hold a majority.

Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather on Sunday signalled his party would keep blocking the legislation unless Labor was willing to make concessions.

“The reality is the Labor Party is refusing to budge on two key issues; more funding for public and affordable housing, and a national co-ordinated freeze on rent increases,” Mr Chandler-Mather told reporters.

“We’ve made clear to the government that we will not pass their plan in its current form. So this is a question for the Labor Party.”

Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather Minister says Labor won’t budge on two key issues.   

Mr Chandler-Mather called the HAFF a “disaster”, claiming the policy amounted to a “gamble on the stock market” that wouldn’t guarantee funding for social and affordable homes.   

The HAFF is the centrepiece of a range of housing policies Labor announced last year with the intention of addressing housing affordability and a shortfall of public homes in Australia.

After providing $10bn worth of initial investment, Labor says it would spend up to $500m a year from the returns the HAFF generates on social and affordable housing each year, with a promise of 30,000 new dwellings over five years.



But the Greens have been arguing the policy doesn’t go far enough as they use their balance of power position in the Senate to delay a vote on the HAFF legislation to secure more time to cut a deal with Labor.

The Greens are now asking for $2.5bn in annual commonwealth funding for social and affordable housing after halving their earlier request for $5bn.

They also want $1bn to go towards co-ordinating with the states and territories a national freeze on rent increases.

Housing Minister Julie Collins earlier on Sunday said the government was “still negotiating in good faith” on the HAFF, which she said would be crucial for addressing supply issues.

“We’ll keep having conversations until the final vote in the Senate. We want to get this bill through because we know that too many vulnerable Australians are relying on us to get this Bill through,” she told Sky News.

“The whole point of the fund is that it’s there in perpetuity, so that institutional investors, community housing providers have certainty that this funding will be available each and every year.”


Ms Collins insisted the HAFF was not the government’s only policy to address housing affordability, noting the states had signed a national accord to agree to reforms to “get more homes on the ground more quickly”.

She said the government would “absolutely” introduce its “Help to Buy” shared equity scheme for eligible home buyers in this term, claiming Labor had never set a time frame for this policy.

Asked about the Greens’ request to work towards a nationwide rent freeze or cap, Ms Collins said this was the responsibility of the states and territories and that some had already ruled it out.

“What we have done is put renters’ rights on the national cabinet agenda,” she said.

Labor has agreed to a number of crossbench requests on the HAFF including to index the $500m cap against inflation from the 2029-2030 financial year to support long-term availability payment contributions.

A spokeswoman for the government said it had continued to work constructively across parliament to deliver on its key election commitments.

“The $10bn Fund is the largest investment in social and affordable housing in a decade, and will deliver 30,000 ew social and affordable homes for Australians in need.

Greens busy destroying their support from non-rusted-ons. Idiots as always “do it OUR way or we will block irt”

I think it's good the Greens are asking AnAl to bend over and take it up the arse.

Labor could try dealing with the Liberals then the Greens will go back to being irrelevant.

whiteknight wrote on Jun 11^th, 2023 at 11:38pm:


The greens represent around 10% of society.

The other 90% shouldn't have to put up with this minority party full of nutjobs