Albanese tells Greens to ‘get on with it’ as housing fight looms
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The news: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has demanded the Greens “get on with it” as they look to stall plan to help first home buyers, with the Senate poised for a fight this week.
The context: Labor is set to introduce its Help to Buy scheme to the Senate this week, having passed it through the lower house.
Under the proposal, the government would contribute up to 30% of a home (or 40% if it’s a new build) and own that proportion of the property.
But the Greens want a raft of concessions, including on negative gearing and capital gains tax, before backing it.
Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather accused the government of attempting to “pick a fight” with the crossbench, saying it is yet to offer any concessions over rent caps, public housing funding, or their proposal for a public developer.
Last year, the Greens delayed another signature piece of housing legislation — the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) — before Albanese agreed to an additional $1 billion for social and affordable housing.
Labor revealed on Monday that the HAFF had selected an initial 185 projects to deliver nearly 14,000 homes, with construction on over a third to begin this financial year. The scheme aims to build 40,000 social and affordable homes over five years.
Housing Minister Clare O’Neil warned that delays to housing policies cost Australians opportunities to enter the market.
What they said: “If that had not happened, we would be handing keys to tenants already in some of these properties” O'Neil said.
Albanese told reporters in Canberra: “The Senate have a week where it's just them. There's no distractions here. Can they get anything done? Can they get anything done this week? That’s the question".
"If not, I reckon Australians will question what they are doing," he said.
The source: Prime Minister’s press conference
