Major defeat for $10 billion housing fund in Senate

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The government had its first major legislative defeat since taking power as the Senate crossbench dashed hopes of passing a $10 billion affordable housing fund.

The Greens and Labor claimed a victory on Monday after a policy to make big polluters cut their emissions was agreed too.

But Labor’s hopes of securing support on a housing policy, also to come before the Senate this week, were dashed.

Despite negotiations notionally continuing, members of the crossbench moved to not even have that bill debated this week – in a total rebuke of the government’s agenda after weeks of negotiations.

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The Senate crossbench and civil society groups say the housing policy on offer does not come close to answering Australia’s biggest need.

On the table is a Labor plan to build 30,000 new social and affordable homes in five years.

That outlay will be financed by hundreds of millions of dollars coming from the nation’s future fund – or what the government says would be a self-sustaining funding source for new housing at a time when state government housing stock is being demolished after falling into disrepair.

To the dismay of those in government negotiations, which one source said had been continuing in good faith (and with, TND understands, some give and take on the table), talks were abruptly cut off on Tuesday when the crossbench even refused to have the bill debated this week.

‘Doesn’t guarantee more housing’

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who is deeply involved in the Greens negotiations on climate but also housing, put paid to any hope the government would have of securing an agreement on housing in the final week before the budget.

“The housing bill won’t be dealt with,” said Senator Hanson-Young.

“They don’t have the numbers. The big problem with it is it doesn’t guarantee more housing.

“We also know a third of Australians (renters) are getting screwed.”

It’s a crushing blow to a key pillar of the government’s platform, which it had hoped to legislate in time for the federal budget in May, alongside two other key bills.

One observer in Labor speculated that a political campaign on housing may have been the price of the Greens’ agreement on climate policy and the safeguard mechanism.

But the Housing Minister Julie Collins says the government has an additional piece of policy with the states to cater to renters specifically, an agreement for each level of government to build a total of 20,000 homes each year.

“We are talking to them about getting this fund up and running because vulnerable people need it.

“Organisations that represent workers who are dealing with vulnerable people day in, day out, say that these bills are urgent.”

Call for greater action

At a rally on Tuesday outside Parliament the Greens and crossbenchers called for greater action in the form of a $5 billion yearly commitment to building affordable housing and a national freeze on rents.

Speakers at the rally including members of the CFMEU who said the Future Fund, or the national sovereign investment fund chaired by Peter Costello, does not always generate positive returns and could put housing investment at risk.

“This could be a vote winner for them and it could transform the lives of people who are doing it tough,” said Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather.

CFMEU spokesman Zach Smith said the government needed to spend at least $290 billion over the next two decades on housing, or risk the crisis continuing.

“What $290 billion represents is 700,000 houses that are needed for our most vulnerable in society,” he said.