As Australia continues to suffer a national housing crisis, this week the Albanese Government has gained the support of the Greens in one of its major housing policies, after months of negotiations and calling the scheme a “lottery”.
With rents continuing to skyrocket, interest rates endlessly rising, and the cost of living crisis destroying any chance of saving money, Aussies are crying out for something — anything to be done to fix the broken housing market.
In response to this national crisis, the different parties of government have been working tirelessly to come up with solutions they think will solve the issue.
While we're building, the Liberals and Greens are blocking.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) September 16, 2024
Our Help to Buy plan will help 40,000 Australians to buy their own home.
Instead of blocking it, the Liberals and Greens should pass this much needed help today. pic.twitter.com/qF6vii3G4q
This week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese‘s government will propose two housing relief policies: the Help to Buy scheme, and the Build to Rent scheme. Though the outlook wasn’t peachy at first, today the Greens agreed to help one of the bills pass.
“There comes a point where you’ve pushed as far as you can. We tried hard to get Labor to shift on soaring rents and negative gearing, but we couldn’t get there this time,” said Greens’ leader Adam Bandt.
“We’ll wave the housing bills through and take the fight to the next election, where we’ll keep Peter Dutton out and then push Labor to act on unlimited rent rises and tax handouts to wealthy property investors.”
Labor and Greens clash over housing policy stalemate
It hasn’t been easy to get to this point, and there was high chance neither bill would pass, as Labor needed the support from either the Liberals or Greens to get the bills through.
Housing Minister Clare O’Neil has accused the Greens of working with the Liberal Party to block the bills, and told the minor party to stop “playing politics”.
“It’s time for this silly charade to end. Australians are in real housing distress here, and the Greens need to stop working with Peter Dutton to delay action,” said O’Neil.
Meanwhile, Greens’ housing advocate Max Chandler-Mather challenged Labor to meet the Greens’ proposed additions to each policy, in order to help more Australians facing the housing crisis.
“Labor has a choice this week: hand more power to Dutton by doing deals with the Liberals, or work with the Greens to start tackling this massive housing crisis,” Chandler-Mather said.
So what are the two housing policies being proposed by Labor this week, and why were the Greens voting against them? Let’s dive in.
What are Labor’s two housing policies?
Not everyone is able to get a loan from Mum and Dad to help buy a house, and hardly anybody wants to rent out a dodgy room with a portaloo.
That’s why Labor’s two proposed policies are aimed at helping struggling Aussies with the two biggest problems in the housing crisis — renting, and buying. They are the:
- Help To Buy scheme
- Build To Rent scheme
Evidently, they are named like this because we live in a country where no policy ever gets up unless it has a catchy three-word name. Lord forbid anyone in Australia ever hear a soundbite that goes for more than a Vine video.
Anyway, here’s more about what’s in each scheme.
What is the Help To Buy scheme?
The Help To Buy scheme is a promise from Labor’s election-winning campaign in 2022, that would see first-home buyers receive assistance from the government in making that first big purchase.
In its proposed state, as many as 40,000 first-home buyers over four years would be able to benefit from the government chipping in as much as a 40 per cent equity stake of the property’s value.
People meeting the policy would need to only have a two per cent home loan. Also, upon the sale of the home, the government would receive profits back, relative to the size of the equity stake.
What is the Build To Rent scheme?
The Build To Rent scheme is directed at the 31 per cent of Australia’s population who rent, and would seek to build more housing that is specifically to accommodate tenants.
It does this by providing developers with tax incentives to build and maintain apartments, with estimations it would help build tens of thousands of places to rent, with 10 per cent of them being affordable.
However, both these bills have been proposed before, and both have been struck down.
So why did a party like the Greens team up with the Liberals to block housing policy, if their platform is apparently dedicated to helping fix the housing crisis?
Why weren’t the Greens support Labor’s housing policies?
There are issues with each policy that have been highlighted by the Greens, such as how the Help To Buy scheme would be a housing “lottery”, and the Build To Rent plan is just a tax handout to businesses, not help for renters.
It’s not enough for Labor to say they care about soaring rents and house prices while doing nothing to change it.
— Max Chandler-Mather (@MChandlerMather) September 11, 2024
The Greens are ready to work with Labor for a real housing plan, and we won’t just rubber stamp more tax handouts for developers that make the crisis worse. pic.twitter.com/YOPSWWpNmt
At the core of the issue, the Greens blocked the bills because they wanted Labor to add more to each bill.
Speaking to the ABC, Greens’ senator Larissa Waters said the government dismissed their negotiations “at every opportunity”.
“We came back what we thought was a really moderate offer which would still help about 60,000 people by just funding an additional 25,000 homes, and I’m incredulous that overnight we had the government say that they won’t even do that,” she said.
“I think renters and people who are trying to buy their own home will be astounded that it seems like the Prime Minister’s ego is getting in the way of people having the homes that they need. I can’t quite understand the psychology there.”
Meanwhile, the Housing Minister has continued to condemn the Greens for blocking her party’s proposals, and said the fault would be on the Greens if the housing policies did not pass.
“This continuous charade from the Greens has to stop. You get the distinct impression the Greens want Australians to continue to be in housing distress, so Adam Bandt can try to harvest those grievances into votes,” said Clare O’Neil.
“It’s the crassest form of politics there is, straight out of the Peter Dutton playbook.”
Ooooh, burn. If there’s anyone whose playbook you don’t wanna steal, it’s the guy whose wife had to say he was “not a monster“.
In response to this, Chandler-Mather has put to O’Neil that Labor is the one blocking the Greens’ requests.
“The Greens are offering Labor an opportunity to announce the construction of 25,000 social and affordable homes, helping over 60,000 people into affordable homes in the middle of a housing crisis, why on earth would Labor block that?” he asked.
The Help To Buy scheme will enter the Parliament for a second time on Tuesday, November 26.
Lead Image: Getty
The post Greens Agree To Pass Labor’s ‘Help To Buy’ Housing Bill Despite Previously Calling It A ‘Lottery’ appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
