Anthony Albanese’s agenda grinds to a halt

Anthony Albanese’s agenda is stalled in parliament, with the Coalition and the Greens rubbishing Labor’s attempts to strike deals to secure support for key housing, environmental and industry legislation.

Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Anthony Albanese’s agenda is stalled in parliament, with the Coalition and the Greens rubbishing Labor’s attempts to strike deals to secure support for key housing, environmental and industry legislation.

The government reintroduced its Help to Buy Bill into the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon in an effort to pressure the Greens or Coalition to vote for the package.

Housing Minister Clare O’Neil said there was “no public policy reason to stand in the path of 40,000 people who need and deserve the government’s help”.

The proposed scheme would see the government provide a 30 to 40 per cent equity contribution for first-home buyers earning up to $90,000 or couples earning up to $120,000.

“We deal with a lot of legislation in this parliament, we face few opportunities that are as clear as this one to, in one move, change the lives of 40,000 people in our country and I urge the Liberals and the Greens to take (that opportunity),” Ms O’Neil said.

Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said Ms O’Neil had done “literally nothing” when it came to gaining his support for the legislation, such as calling a meeting or offering to amend the bill.

Despite having a list of demands, including capping rents, building more public housing and phasing out the tax handouts of property investors, Mr Chandler-Mather said he did “not expect to get everything” he wanted from negotiations.

“It’s pretty clear that Labor have decided they will not negotiate,” he said.

Both the Greens and the Coalition raised particular concern with the $90,000 threshold for the scheme, which as well as being too low for the cohorts Labor claims the bill would benefit – such as teachers and nurses – also presented serious issues when a person was promoted and began earning more than the cap.

“It’s been outlined in the bills program directions that where someone earns more than $90,000 a year and they’ve accessed the scheme, they are liable to pay their share back to the government,” Mr Chandler-Mather said.

“Now, this is remarkable … there’s a circumstance where someone accesses this scheme, gets a promotion and then owes the government $300,000.”

Labor is also facing significant challenges in passing its $24bn Future Made in Australia legislation, which the Coalition partyroom decided on Tuesday it would not support without the package of bills first going to a parliamentary committee.

A Coalition spokeswoman said the fact the legislation was not “technology agnostic” – rather only covering hydrogen and renewables – was one of the flaws that needed to be addressed.

Despite confidence from Labor sources that the bill could pass this week, the Greens have not indicated they will support the legislation, which was also not listed as one of the priority bills in the Greens partyroom meeting on Tuesday morning.

The struggle to get through the legislative agenda comes as deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley told the Coalition partyroom that there was “still a very real chance of an early election”, while the Prime Minister told his MPs that Labor would have a “big second-term agenda”.

Negotiations continued on the Environmental Protection Act, with both parties confirming they last met with the Environment Minister in the middle of September.

However, the Greens slammed Mr Albanese for swooping in over the top of Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and scuttling progress on any agreement for the EPA.

“The dysfunction between the Prime Minister and minister’s office is plain for all to see. They are not on the same page,” Greens environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said.

“I’m still talking to the minister’s office and doing what I can to try and be productive, but it’s been made very hard when the Prime Minister continues to roll his minister and block any progress.”

The Australian understands other parties and members of parliament have also been dealing with the Prime Minister’s office on the issue of the EPA rather than directly with Ms Plibersek.