Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has secured the passage of his housing agenda through the Parliament in a significant pre-Christmas win after staring down demands from the Greens. Source: The Australian.
Greens leader Adam Bandt yesterday announced his party would back Mr Albanese’s $5.5 billion Help to Buy scheme, assisting up to 40,000 first-home buyers enter the market, and Build to Rent program, which gives developers tax incentives to build apartments that can be rented out below the market rate.
The Greens won’t be handed any concessions for their support.
The minor party failed to force the Government to negotiate on its housing platform amid poor election results at state and local council levels, but Mr Bandt said further assistance for renters and first-home buyers would now become an election issue.
The Australian understands Mr Albanese is adopting a ruthless approach to the legislative logjam this week and is prepared to jettison bills with no prospect of passing through parliament.
Senior government sources said MPs could be held back in Canberra on Friday if an additional sitting day is required to pass legislation.
Labor will also ask the Senate to extend today’s sitting hours in a bid to pass five more of its bills, including changing the indexation rate of Australians’ HELP debt, after legislating a new Aged Care Act yesterday.
Housing Minister Clare O’Neil, who took over the portfolio in July, accused the Greens of “playing politics on housing” for 2½ years as she welcomed the party’s support for the bills.
Under Labor’s shared equity scheme a first-home buyer needs a minimum 2 per cent deposit to enter into a contract with the Government, which will contribute up to 40 per cent of the property’s purchase price.
Build to Rent legislation would introduce tax incentives for developers to set aside 10 per cent of new homes for lease at 75 per cent the market rate of rent.
FULL STORY
Anthony Albanese secures Greens support for housing agenda (By Rosie Lewis and Geoff Chambers, The Australian)
