Greens sound alarm on slow housing rollout in Queensland

The Greens say the slow delivery of affordable homes in Queensland casts doubt over Labor’s $10bn housing future fund.

Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather has questioned Anthony Albanese’s “dodgy” housing fund.

The Greens have taken aim at Queensland’s flagship $2bn Housing Investment Fund for not delivering any new homes in the last two years, arguing it ­raises “serious questions” about ­Anthony Albanese’s plan to build 30,000 affordable homes through his own $10bn fund.

The minor party has blocked the passage of federal Labor’s $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund through the parliament, demanding the government invest up to $2.5bn each year in affordable housing and provide a further $1bn to entice the states and territories to implement a two-year freeze on ­rent rises.

In a budget estimates hearing last week, state Greens MP Amy MacMahon quizzed Department of Housing director-general Mark Cridland about how many new homes had been built through the $2bn HIF.

Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon said the homes were “under construction”, arguing “it takes time to build homes”.

The HIF has a target of 5600 social and affordable homes by June 2027, and Ms Scanlon says 1500 had “already been approved under that particular fund”. She said the first two new projects funded through the HIF had started work in Chermside and Redcliffe.

But the Greens warned the process was too slow, and federal housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said: “The experience of the Queensland version of the HAFF raises serious questions over whether Labor’s dodgy housing fund will even build a single new home.”

In Mount Isa on Saturday, the Prime Minister said it was important to get the HAFF through the Senate to “produce more ­social and affordable housing”.