The solicitor-general has confirmed Labor’s troubled housing future fund bill has failed to pass parliament and a second misfire would be grounds for a double-dissolution election.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed he had received legal advice the $10 billion housing fund had officially failed to make it through the upper house.
If the bill fails a second time, the government would be able to call a double-dissolution of parliament, if it chooses, which is essentially an early election.
The Greens delayed the proposed housing future fund until October, with the support of the opposition, in the Senate on Monday.
The fund has faced an uphill battle in the Senate, with the Coalition and much of the crossbench taking issue with the proposal.
A range of concessions have got key independents over the line but the Greens have held out. Protections for renters are a major sticking point.
The minor party is gunning for a two-year rent freeze and then caps on increases after that to protect tenants from large and frequent price hikes.
There could be movement on the rent issue at the meeting with federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers and state and territory treasurers to discuss the national housing accord.
The treasurers are meeting virtually on Friday to discuss the landmark agreement to address supply and affordability.
Rent controls are under consideration in Victoria but other states, including NSW, have poured cold water over the suggestion.
Mr Albanese said it was completely irrational for the Greens to support more public housing and block a bill designed to unlock finance for new social and affordable homes.
“The time for these political games is well past,” he said on Friday.
Mr Albanese said the fund was not the government’s only response to the housing affordability challenge, with a $2 billion funding injection for social housing announced last week.
While technically unrelated to the live negotiations over the housing fund, the Greens heralded the funding through the housing accord as a win but still want movement on renters’ rights.
Many suburbs have endured rent rises of more than 10 per cent as high demand for rentals and low supply puts landlords in a position to charge higher rates.
Rents are also expected to keep rising as the population grows because of the rebound in migration post-pandemic and high construction costs and interest rates keep a lid on new home building.
– AAP
