Compromise unlikely as Anthony Albanese digs in over housing fund

Demands to co-ordinate a nationwide rental freeze have been labelled as impractical as a fight over the housing crisis turns bitter.

A bitter stalemate over the government's signature housing policy is no closer to a resolution after Anthony Albanese declared he won’t compromise to win over the Greens.

The Prime Minister aired his frustration over the impasse on radio on Wednesday morning and rejected claims he’s been unwilling to negotiate to land a deal.

“This has been one of their nonsenses … I talked to (Greens leader) Adam Bandt on the weekend, I talk to people in the Greens as do our ministers, with crossbenchers, right across the board there has been substantial conversations,” he told ABC’s RN Breakfast.

“What the Greens ask for though, isn't to negotiate with us, it’s to negotiate with every state Premier and every Chief Minister about matters that are completely within the domain of state and territory governments and that’s something that can’t be can’t be done.”

Mr Albanese is not willing to compromise on the HAFF. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Talks between Labor and the minor party on the Housing Australia Future Fund are due to resume later this week but neither side is willing to budge.

The Greens have argued the $10bn fund, which would spend minimum $500m a year to build 30,000 social and affordable homes over five years, doesn’t go far enough.

It wants the government to spend upwards of $2.5bn a year to address the social housing shortfall and demanded the Prime Minister co-ordinate a nationwide freeze on rents, or caps, with the states.

Greens Housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said his party was trying to negotiate “in good faith” but the government was not treating “the housing crisis as the sort of massive, national crisis that it is”.

The Greens housing spokesman said he’s prepared to walk away from talks. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“We’re not going to pass the Bill unchanged,” he told ABC Melbourne.

“There’s a lot of holes in this plan right now … What we're trying to do is play a role in the Senate where we have the balance of power … and work out a plan that invests money directly into building public housing every year.

“I don’t think that’s too much to ask when there’s a $20 billion budget surplus.”

Mr Albanese called the Greens demands impractical but would not say if he’d be willing to provide states with additional funding to implement a freeze to end the standoff.

“States are doing their own work on support for rentals,” he said.

“I accept that we have a federation … we agreed at the last national cabinet meeting was that we have an agreement to progress, more co-ordination on renters rights but it won’t be the same in every state and territory.

“We can't just abolish the federation in order to pass this legislation.”

Labor’s housing policy was a key pillar of its election platform. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Both Labor and the Greens insist they have made significant concessions on the Bill since it was first introduced.

In July, the government announced it would immediately inject $2bn in to social housing while the Greens halved its initial demand the government spend closer to $5bn to $2.5bn.

Meanwhile, the Coalition rejected the fund from the outset.

Independent senator David Pocock said negotiations on the bill had been “pretty adversarial from the start” but called on the Greens to pass the HAFF regardless.

“My sense is that people expect politicians to get on with it, negotiate and come to an outcome that works,” the senator told ABC’s Radio National.

“The HAFF is not going to solve the housing problem. I think everyone knows that ... I think there is scope to pass the HAFF and to continue to have this fight with the government.”

The legislation has been twice stalled in the Senate and on Wednesday, Housing Minister Julie Collins will reintroduce the Bill to the lower house in a bid to secure a double dissolution trigger.

Mr Albanese suggested the Greens were holding out in order to continue campaigning on the matter.

“It's a bizarre position which says you want people to be kept in poverty so that you can have a political campaign,” he said.