‘Won’t work’: Minister Julie Collins rejects Greens’ call for $2.5bn annual social housing investment

Housing Minister Julie Collins says the government won’t consider calls for a $2.5bn annual social housing investment in exchange for the Greens supporting Labor’s housing bill.

Julie Collins during Question Time at Parliament House. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Labor has hosed down the Greens‘ scaled back calls on government to beef up its Housing Australia Future Fund, with Housing Minister Julie Collins hitting back at proposals to change the bill that she says simply “won’t work”.

The Greens announced on Sunday they were willing to compromise to pass the HAFF – which has been at a stalemate for a number of weeks – demanding $2.5 billion a year to be spent on social and affordable housing, down from their original call of $5 billion a year.

The party also went from calling for a $1.6 billion incentive package to be put on the table for states to enforce rental freezes, to proposing a $1 billion incentive package instead.

Greens housing and homelessness spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said the party had essentially halved its initial demands in the hopes of progressing meaningful housing policy.

“The Greens have now moved a long way, so the question for Labor is, are they really saying they’d rather do nothing to tackle the housing crisis than agree to $3.5 billion of investment in public and affordable housing and a national freeze on rent increases?“ he said.

“If Labor can spend over $30 billion a year on Stage 3 tax cuts for the wealthy, they can find $3.5 billion a year to fund a rent freeze and more public and affordable housing.”

But Ms Collins indicated the government would not consider the proposal in exchange for the Greens support.

“What we don’t need are proposals that won’t work, are not backed by evidence and would only make our housing challenges worse,” she told The Australian.

“This bill can’t be delayed any longer. Senators who say they support more social and affordable homes need to stop the delays and pass the bill.”

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe told senate estimates last week that any price controls on rent risked “distorting supply” and, while potentially getting inflation down for a short time, would result in the country ending up “poorer”.

Mr Chandler-Mather didn’t accept rent controls would have a negative impact on supply and that the Greens were relying on a “wealth of research” that was publicly available to back up their calls for a rent freeze.

“The useful thing about a rent freeze is other countries have used it around the world, as well as rent caps, so we have a lot of evidence around that. New Jersey was a state that introduced rent caps, and research found there was no material impact on the supply of private housing,” he told ABC’s Insiders.

National cabinet in April agreed that state and territory housing ministers would work together for the next six months to develop policy options aimed at easing pressure on renters, with Anthony Albanese indicating this would include examining the size and frequency of rent increases.

The $10 billion HAFF would see 30,000 new social and affordable rental homes built in the first five years of the scheme.

In response to concerns from other cross bench members, such as Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie, the government agreed to put a floor of 1,200 homes to be built in each state and territory.

“We have addressed every single concern raised jointly by the Senate cross bench,” Ms Collins said.

“We will continue to work constructively across the parliament, because we know how critical it is that the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund is passed.”

The bill is due to go before the senate later this month, but neither the Coalition nor the Greens have said they will support it in its current form.