As the Greens continue to push for a drastic cap on rental rises, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hinted that a double dissolution election over housing is likely.
Last week, the Coalition and the Greens worked together to push back a vote on the Housing Australia Future Fund until October.
The minority party has pledged its allegiance to the government’s landmark legislation enhancing tenants’ rights, and has demanded that the Commonwealth organise a nationwide rent freeze.
But the Prime Minister has said that the Greens are attempting to gain support from the one-third of the country’s population that now rents by exploiting social housing as a political tool.
Mr. Albanese asked the legislature to approve the HAFF legislation once more, but he also warned that further postponing the vote would be viewed as triggering a double dissolution.
We are aware that the law has effectively been blocked by being postponed on numerous occasions, and this is good legislation, said Mr. Albanese on Sunday.
“My initial stance is that I genuinely believe in the idea that governments should be in office for their entire terms. But we’ll have to wait and see what the Greens decide to do.
They are claiming that they won’t support the law until something happens that they are certain won’t happen.
Before the administration to dissolve both houses of parliament and call an early election, a bill must be defeated twice, three months apart.
Last week, Mr. Albanese informed his caucus that he was looking for guidance on whether or not the Greens’ decision to delay the vote qualified as a block.
While adamantly opposed to the bill, the Coalition has encouraged the government to seek an early election in order to resolve the dispute with the Greens.
Shadow housing minister Michael Sukkar said, “The Coalition would be more than willing to go to a Double Dissolution election over Labor’s appalling housing policy.
The centrepiece reform proposed by Labour would put $10 billion in a fund, partner with outside funding, and reinvest all profits in social and affordable housing.
According to the government, this will result in the construction of 35,000 dwellings in the first five years of operation.
In order to put further pressure on the administration, the Greens have declined to discuss the possibility of an early election on the housing issue.
The Greens have demanded $2.5 billion in yearly financial guarantees in addition to better renters’ rights.
While Labour stated it will give the states and territories $2 billion for social housing over the coming weeks, it has disclaimed that this will be a regular occurrence.
Since taking office less than 18 months ago, the government has engaged in only a few significant legislative battles before the current impasse.
The Coalition has decided not to support the legislation in any way, claiming the government did not fully take into account how increased migration over the following five years will put additional pressure on housing supply.
The fund, according to the opposition housing minister, offered “uncertain returns” and had no steady flow of income that could be reinvested in social and affordable housing.
It is obvious that the administration created this fund in order to prevent any future spending from adhering to the budget, according to Mr. Sukkar.
The Prime Minister took a shot at the Greens on Sunday while still claiming that his government was focused on protecting renters’ rights.
“We’re negotiating with states and territories about how we can give more rights to people who are renting, and we’re working through that constructively,” Mr. Albanese said.
However, the Greens political party have virtually cut themselves off from that procedure and those talks, just as they have done with the question of creating more social housing.
Last Monday, the Greens launched a Senate investigation into tenants’ rights, which will present a draught report to National Cabinet before its October meeting on the subject.
