KEY POINTS:
- The Greens are threatening to sink the government's housing bill.
- Labor struck a deal on social housing with Jacqui Lambie on Thursday.
- An expert wants the government to build houses itself, not rely on the private sector.
Australians locked out of the housing market are "waking up" to the reality of a renting for a lifetime, an expert warns, with neither Labor nor the Greens backing down over social housing.
Labor edged closer to sealing its housing package on Thursday by striking a deal with Jacqui Lambie Network senators Jaqui Lambie and Tammy Tyrrell, meaning support from the Greens would see it become law.
But the crossbench party insists the plan will not pass without major changes, warning Labor is "badly misreading" the mood of a battling skyrocketing costs.
Max Chandler-Mather says the Greens are prepared to sink the plan. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
"We know that everywhere in the country is having a housing issue ... This is about making sure that every state and territory gets their fair share. It’s also about allowing some of the community housing providers some surety of pipeline," Housing Minister Julie Collins told ABC radio.
'Renting for their lives'
Everybody's Home national spokesperson Maiy Azize said the development would go some way to easing a projected 106,000 dwelling shortfall by 2027.
But she urged Labor not to solely rely on the private sector, warning similar investment funds had lost profit in recent years.
“We would be jumping up and down with joy if this actually was a $10 billion investment in social housing," she told SBS News.
“Today's deal is a good step forward, because it guarantees that this fund will at least deliver something ... But we'd also love to see them build some homes."
Everybody's Home wants a plan to construct 25,000 social homes annually to be funded in next week's budget, alongside laws to protect a growing cohort of people permanently locked out of ownership.
"In these conditions, people will be renting for the rest of their lives. I think people are rightly waking up to that and getting angry," Ms Azize said.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has stressed the need for restraint in next week's budget, warning Labor would not be able to satisfy every spending demand.
But Ms Azize insisted budgets were "a question of priorities", pointing to Labor's commitments to AUKUS and tax cuts, set to cost $58 billion and $254 billion over the next decade respectively.
Jacqui Lambie has backed Labor's housing package. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
“They say they don't have the money ... [But] we'd love to see them show us that ending this housing crisis is as important to them as tax cuts for high income earners, as submarines, or as these handouts to landlords, which they can find the money for," she said.
"Somehow they can't find the money to build social homes ... We'd love to see an investment in social housing that comes even remotely close to that.”
Labor and Greens set for parliamentary stand-off
Labor will make its housing package its first order of business when parliament sits next week.
The ACT and NT would particularly benefit from the scheme, with neither territory receiving a dollar in funding from National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation between 2019 and 2022.
Senator Tyrell urged her colleagues to back the compromise, which she described as a "floor" rather than a ceiling.
"The Greens need to support this legislation, otherwise nobody gets anything. We get nothing," she said.
With rents having risen 30 per cent since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Greens are holding out for a national rent freeze as well as $5 billion annually on social housing.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he believed inflation had peaked but said the pain of high inflation would linger. Source: AAP / Bianca De Marchi
"The bottom line is, you wouldn't fund schools or hospitals via a $10 billion gamble on the stock market," he told SBS News on Thursday.
"We aren't just going to wave through a plan that does nothing for renters and doesn't guarantee a cent in housing funding."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has threatened to take the plan to the next election rather than bend to the Greens' demands.
Mr Chandler-Mather said the Greens were prepared to hold out, saying the overwhelming majority of people their volunteers spoke to had urged them not to pass the plan without direct funding.
"It seems to me that [Mr Albanese] doesn't care if this passes or not. He just wants to play politics ... [But] they are badly misreading this," he said.
"The prime minister being harangued through Hobart as he announces more money for stadiums hopefully is a demonstration the public are incredibly fed up with just how out-of-touch this government seems."
