The Albanese Government’s key housing plan is on track to pass parliament within a fortnight after gaining support from the Greens.
The Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) will see $10 billion invested, with the returns used to construct 30,000 new social and affordable dwellings.
It previously faced a months-long standoff, with neither the Coalition nor the Greens willing to lend their support in the senate.
It's drawn criticism from the Coalition, with shadow housing minister Michael Sukkar telling the Savings Tip Jar podcast last week the opposition believes the fund is “a bit of a Ponzi scheme”.
An extra $1 billion promised to the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to support the construction of new homes appears to have been the driving force behind the Greens’ about-face.
It comes after the Albanese Government committed $2 billion to its new Social Housing Accelerator in July on the back of pressure from the Greens.
“Labor’s HAFF still won’t fix the housing crisis, but the Greens have secured $3 billion dollars for housing right now - not relying on a gamble on the stock market - and we’ve got to a position where it can pass the Senate,” Greens leader Adam Bandt said.
However, the party has vowed to continue pressuring the Federal Government on rental reforms, calling for the introduction of rent freezes and caps on rental increases.
“Pressure works,” Mr Bandt said.
“Labor said there was no more money for housing this year and we pushed them to find $3 billion, and although Labor backs unlimited rent rises, we’ll push them on that too.”
In a statement, prime minister Anthony Albanese and minister for housing and homelessness Julie Collins said the legislation’s passing, alongside commitments made at last month’s National Cabinet, represent “the most significant reforms to housing in a generation”.
The National Cabinet saw the Federal Government offering states and territories a share of $3 billion for building more than their share of the million homes the National Housing Accord originally promised to supply over the five years from 2024, up to the new target of 1.2 million homes.
Image by Maximillian Conacher on Unsplash
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