Why Australians could be back at the polls sooner than expected
Voters could be headed back to the polls sooner than expected, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seeks advice on a potential double dissolution.
QLD Politics
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Voters could be headed back to the polls sooner than expected, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has “sought advice” in relation to a potential double dissolution.
It is part of the escalating dispute with the Greens over the $10 billion social housing bill.
The Greens have been delaying and deferring the Housing Australia Future Fund laws in the Senate, demanding the states commit to a rental freeze or rental price caps.
Mr Albanese is seeking advice on whether this could be considered being blocked – which would be the first step of two needed for a double dissolution to be called.
A bill needs to be rejected or blocked twice at least three months apart before the Prime Minister can go to the governor-general and ask him to dissolve both houses of parliament.
The last time this happened was ahead of the 2016 election, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull using the rejection of the Australian Building and Construction Commission as the trigger.
The government ramped up pressure on the Greens, with Mr Albanese accusing them of “juvenile, student politics” while Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the Greens “cared more about TikTok than housing stock”.
It follows the Greens and Coalition voting on Monday to defer further debate on the matter until the October sitting of parliament.
Mr Albanese told a Labor caucus meeting on Tuesday that continually deferring a bill can be taken as a block and that “we are seeking advice on that”.
Greens housing spokesman and Griffith MP Max Chandler-Mather said in response to the double dissolution threat that the Prime Minister did not sound like he wanted to “negotiate seriously” to work out a plan to tackle the housing crisis.
“Time and again the Greens have bent over backwards to reach a fair negotiating position, while the Prime Minister is out there threatening elections,” he said.
“His job, as the most powerful person in the country, is at the very least to provide some representation to the one-third of this country who rent.”
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