A push to pause energy efficiency standards as part of a plan to build more homes has been criticised as "regressive" as Australia transitions to net-zero emissions.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton unveiled a $5 billion plan to fast-track construction of up to 500,000 homes by temporarily funding water, power and sewerage on a "use it or lose it" basis to incentivise expedited builds.
Part of the plan is a decade-long freeze on any changes to the National Construction Code, which encompasses energy efficiency standards, and independent senator David Pocock says that threatens climate action.
"This is seriously regressive policy by Peter Dutton and the coalition and continues more than a decade of coalition climate change denial," he told AAP.
Australia must keep pushing for ambitious standards to reduce emissions and power bills while future-proofing homes, schools and workplaces against against a climate that's already changing, the senator said.
The Australian Building Codes Board is working on potential changes to efficiency standards for commercial buildings in 2025 and increasing the sector's role in helping reduce emissions.
The Housing Industry Association welcomed freezing changes to the code, saying builders had complained about red tape adding costs to new homes.
Labor frontbenchers criticised the coalition, saying it has re-heated a government policy to cut red tape and work with local councils, which is already being enacted.
"In fact, that money from us is already rolling out to assist state and local governments to do the kind of infrastructure works that Peter Dutton has just announced," minister Murray Watt told ABC's Insiders program on Sunday.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher admonished the coalition for blocking Labor housing policies, which she argues will aid supply, and plans to scrap other others - such as the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) - that are already in place.
"The HAFF has already established and already commissioning projects, so, we know they're on the chopping block from Peter Dutton," she told Sky News.
The coalition argues the $10 billion investment fund will fuel inflation and there is no evidence it makes housing more affordable.
Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume argued Labor would fall 400,000 houses short of its 1.2 million housing accord target, leaving would-be homeowners in the lurch.
The housing fund hadn't built a single home while the coalition's $5 billion plan would enable shovel-ready projects that lack enabling infrastructure like roads, pipes, communications, electricity and water, to get off the ground, she said.
"On top of this funding, through concessional loans and also through grants, is going to create those greenfield sites, make them shovel ready so that the building can start immediately," she said.
The coalition's 500,000 homes figure has been supported by the Property Council, Master Builders Association and the Urban Development Institute, Senator Hume said when asked where it came from.
Independents are calling for a rethink of the housing accord following limited progress.
The prime minister needed to reconvene a meeting with state and territory leaders to make cash incentives for housing builds more achievable, Allegra Spender said.
