A core Labor election promise aimed at addressing Australia’s housing crisis has suffered a major setback after the federal government failed to secure crossbench support for the legislation.
, which include an additional $5 billion a year for social and affordable housing, and a national agreement to cap rent increases for two years., the Greens said on Tuesday they would not debate the suite of housing bills in the Senate unless the government agreed to significant changes. The government needs the support of the Greens and two other crossbenchers in the Senate after the Coalition said it would reject the bills.
Collins said she was concerned the Greens appeared to be stopping debate on bills that would help vulnerable people.“I want to negotiate in good faith,” she said, adding she was open to discussions about getting the bills back before the Senate later this week. The housing fund is meant to provide $500 million a year in returns to get 30,000 social and affordable homes built over the next five years and will also provide $200 million to repair housing in remote Indigenous communities, $100 million for crisis accommodation for women and children escaping domestic violence and $30 million for housing for veterans.
Housing Minister Julie Collins urged crossbench MPs to talk to their senators to get the housing policy passed.“[That] is why we moved immediately last year to unlock $575 million to get more social and affordable housing on the ground quickly,” she said in question time.“I would say to them, what you are saying is no to actually getting homes on the ground or people that need it most,” she said.
But Chandler-Mather said there were plenty of precedents for the federal government to negotiate with the states and territories for a national approach to an issue, including an agreement reached last year on energy price caps.
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