THE Greens and coalition have again thwarted Labor’s hopes of passing the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) through Parliament, refusing to budge on its demands for a freeze on rents, delaying passage of the bill until at least mid-October and raising the possibility of a double-dissolution election.
If the Senate rejects or fails to pass the bill then – with at least three months having passed since the first attempt – then the path would be paved for an election in which all Senators’ positions would be up for grabs.
Siding again with the Coalition, the Greens proposed a motion “to allow time for national cabinet to progress reforms to strengthen renters’ rights” yesterday that was voted up 37 to 23 votes, while Labor’s bid to have a vote on the bill today was beaten, again blocking its path through the Senate.
Labor’s Don Farrell called the Greens and the Coalition “the axis of evil”, while Jackie Lambie of the Jackie Lambie network said the Green’s approach was “bloody crap”.
The off-budget HAFF would deliver 30,000 social and affordable homes over five years.
The Greens’ opposition comes despite Labor’s last-ditch bids to get the Greens onside ahead of Parliament’s winter break; it included pledging $2 billion that would go directly to states and territories within weeks to deliver new social and community housing, and a guarantee the HAFF would provide a minimum of $500 million of funding to building housing over five years from 2024-25, rather than a maximum, and for a new power for both Treasurer and Finance Minister to increase that amount by regulation.
“The pressure is now on the Prime Minister and the Labor Premiers to act on a rent freeze and limit rent increases,” said Green leader Adam Bandt.
“This is a test for Labor. It’s wall-to-wall Labor across the mainland, so rent rises are their responsibility.”
He said unlimited rent increases “should be illegal.”
National residential rental vacancy rates held steady over May at 1.2% as national rental crisis rolled on, while rents have surged by 10.3% over the past months. A report by researchers at the UNSW’s City Futures Research Centre found homelessness in Queensland surged by 22% between 2017 and 2022, while according to the Council to Homeless Persons, Victoria’s homelessness rate has increased 24% over the last five years. Social housing made up more than 6% of occupied dwellings in 1996, but this had fallen to just above 4% by 2021.
Pointing to Labor’s newly-announced $2 billion pledge, Greens housing and homelessness spokesperson, Max Chandler-Mather, said, “Pressure works. To everyone who told us to pass the HAFF six months ago, I say look at the events of the weekend. When we hold the line we get outcomes, and we need to see outcomes for renters.”
Housing Minister Julie Collins said, “Every day of delay is more than $1.3 million that does not go to housing for people that need it. $250 million every six months.”
Teal Independent, Member for Wentworth, Allegra Spender, said “The Greens are right to say the Bill doesn’t do enough and doesn’t solve all our problems. Sure. But neither does obstructing solutions and progress. And neither does support for ineffective, populist policies like a rent freeze.”
Jackie Lambie took aim at the Greens in an interview on Sky News Australia.
“If you want to keep playing with people’s lives…They sit there and they pride themselves on their social values and that they are there for the most vulnerable people,” Lambie said on Sky News Australia.
“If this is the way of them showing that that’s what they are there for…bloody crap.”
Lambie had been opposed to the HAFF before Labor guaranteed a minimum number of homes in each estate and territory.
Max Shifman, national president of the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) said, “It is extremely disappointing that the Senate did not pass the HAFF and instead elected to ‘kick the can down the road’ causing further delay at a time when Australians are struggling with a chronic lack of housing and increasing cost of living pressures.
“No one wins with this strategy and we are starting to run out of options.”
Master Builders CEO Denita Wawn also said its “disappointing the Senate chose to kick the can down the road”, and that the body “urges the Senate to put politics aside and work with government and industry to tackle the housing crisis”.
