The Albanese Government will revive its threat of a double-dissolution election over housing, re-introducing its Help to Buy housing bill to Parliament next week. Source: ABC News.
The bill was effectively rejected by the Parliament a fortnight ago, and a second rejection before Christmas would provide the Government with a trigger for an unlikely double-dissolution election.
While a double dissolution is considered unlikely, the Government is keen to keep the political threat alive as negotiations over the housing bill continue.
The renewed political fight over housing comes as the Government seeks applications for $100 million in grant funding for new crisis accommodation for women and children experiencing family violence.
The Crisis and Transitional Accommodation Program funding, sourced from the Housing Australia Future Fund, is expected to provide new accommodation options for hundreds of women and children.
The Government is at a political impasse over its Help to Buy scheme, with the Coalition resolutely opposed, and the Greens demanding significant concessions in other areas of housing policy.
Help to Buy would allow the government to become a co-owner when someone purchases a home, covering up to 40 per cent of a home’s cost and taking a share of its equity in return.
The Coalition argues the Government should not get caught up in owning a slice of a person’s home, while the Greens see the scheme as only fuelling demand for homes.
The Senate had voted to delay considering the bill any further for two months, but Housing Minister Clare O’Neil said Labor would not tolerate the delay.
“We’re running out of time here,” she said.
“We’re going to have an election in the not-too-distant future, and if the Greens and the Liberals continue to delay this legislation, thousands of Australians will miss out on owning their own home.
“Why would anyone in the Parliament be standing in the path of an aged care worker getting access to secure, affordable housing?”
FULL STORY
Double dissolution election threat to be revived in parliament over housing fight, as $100m crisis fund opens (By Tom Lowrey, ABC News)
