The Greens will help the Albanese government pass its Help to Buy shared equity scheme for homeownership and Build to Rent tax incentives, despite failing to win any concessions from Labor in return for its support.
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, and housing spokesperson, Max Chandler-Mather, announced the shift in policy at a press conference on Monday afternoon, explaining that they had pushed Labor “as hard” as they could without success.
“The Greens can announce that we’ll be waving through Labor’s two housing bills after accepting that Labor doesn’t care enough about renters to do anything meaningful for them,” Chandler-Mather told reporters in Canberra.
The decision is a blow to Chandler-Mather, who successfully used negotiations in 2023 over the Housing Australia Future Fund to pressure the government to commit billions of dollars more for social and affordable housing.
The Help to Buy scheme allows the government to contribute 30% of the purchase price of a home or 40% for a new build for those who earn under the income thresholds of $90,000 for a single applicant, or $120,000 for a couple. The government share reduces the cost for the homebuyer, although it must be paid back upon sale.
In February Anthony Albanese indicated the government intended to play hardball on the bill, insisting the Greens could vote for the bill or against it without horse trading or further concessions from Labor.
At first, the Greens called on the government to reform negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions in return for their support.
Earlier in November, the Greens substantially reduced their demands, calling instead for funding for an extra 25,000 social and affordable homes and a commitment that those whose income rises above the threshold do not need to pay back immediately.
On Monday morning the housing minister, Clare O’Neil, rejected these demands, triggering the repositioning by the Greens, which Bandt said was adopted unanimously by the party room after it was recommended by Chandler-Mather.
For months Albanese and Labor have been targeting the Greens by declaring “we are the builders, they are the blockers”, urging progressive voters to turn on the minor party for delaying government bills.
Chandler-Mather noted that the Greens had now “passed every single piece of Labor’s housing legislation”.
“And if we come to the next election and there’s still a housing crisis – well, that’s a question Labor has to answer.
“Because we know the solutions to the housing crisis: it’s capping rent increases; it’s phasing out negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts; it’s starting getting the government in the business of building genuinely affordable housing, the way it used to.”
The Greens vowed to pursue these policies in balance of power in a possible minority parliament after the next election.
Earlier, O’Neil told Radio National that “for two-and-a-half years now, the Australian Greens have done nothing but block and delay the action the government has attempted to take on housing”.
“They’ve worked with Peter Dutton to do so, and the result of that has been more homelessness, fewer homes built and fewer social and affordable homes built,” she said.
“There’s a big decision here for the Greens. Are they going to go into the next election as an ineffective party of protest or a party that works with the government on issues that are critical to Australians who are watching at home?”
Bandt denied that poor results for the Greens in the Queensland state election and some Victorian councils had played a role in the backdown.
He noted the minor party had improved its vote in the Northern Territory and Tasmanian elections, and some councils including Merri-bek in Victoria and Richmond and Sydney in New South Wales.
