Albanese gets Greens to cave after a year and back housing bill

Labor has gained a crucial concession from the Greens after a year of dispute over a $5.5 billion plan to help young Australians buy their first homes, securing the policy in the Senate but sparking furious claims that the delay harmed thousands of home buyers.

In a stunning backdown, the Greens declared they would “wave through” the Help to Buy scheme to support home buyers and the Build to Rent policy to spur investment in new homes, despite holding out against them for most of this year.

In what could be the final week of parliament before the federal election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is trying to fast-track laws that help with household costs.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen, Oscar Colman

The decisions late on Monday delivered a big victory to the federal government in the final week of parliament for the year, but other bills are on the brink of defeat after Senate crossbenchers blasted Labor for trying to rush through changes on the environment, political donations and other issues.

Critics also savaged the government’s move to shelve a crackdown on gambling advertising, with Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocate Tim Costello calling it “cowardice” to halt the plan after media and gaming companies lobbied against the changes.

The agreement on the housing reforms marks a new phase in the political contest between Labor and the Greens ahead of the next election, with Greens leader Adam Bandt saying his priority would be to stop Opposition Leader Peter Dutton from becoming prime minister.

Credit: Matt Golding

But Housing Minister Clare O’Neil denounced the Greens for dragging out the argument over the twin housing bills, signalling Labor would campaign against the minor party as extreme and obstructive.

“It’s fine that the Greens have finally come to the party on these bills, but their delay has come at a cost to the country,” she said.

“Real people get harmed by their politicking.”

The Help to Buy scheme was first put to parliament last November and aims to help 10,000 buyers a year by offering Commonwealth funding in exchange for equity in their homes, reducing the burden of the mortgage.

The government is aiming to start offering funds to home buyers in the middle of next year, about one year after it wanted to do so, but the Greens said the delay was not their fault because the government had been required to wait for the states to pass separate laws to support the policy.

The Build to Rent policy will take effect immediately upon approval in the Senate by reducing taxes for foreign investors in major projects to construct rental properties, bringing the tax burden into line with commercial and retail property.

Bandt and Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said they had tried but failed to force the government to adopt other changes – such as a rent freeze and more spending on new homes – but accepted that they should pass the housing bills.

“We’ve pushed as hard as we can,” Bandt said. “For us, now, the fight turns to keeping Peter Dutton out and pushing Labor to act on the real causes of the housing crisis.”

The outcome means the Help to Buy scheme will be made law in the form the government put to the parliament last November, leading O’Neil to say the Greens had held 10,000 people “to ransom” because they would have to wait longer for the assistance.

The government also gained approval on Monday for a sweeping overhaul of the aged care system, including 83,000 more packages for in-home care next year, and is confident of winning a vote within days on a $3.6 billion wage boost for childcare workers.

But it is scrambling to secure Senate approval for the rest of its agenda after furious crossbenchers criticised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for trying to rush changes through parliament.

The dispute threatens to stall reforms including plans to set up a new environmental regulator, while a crackdown on scams is being delayed until next year.

In what could be the final week of parliament before the federal election, Albanese is trying to fast-track laws that help with household costs – such as the housing scheme – and calling on the Senate to back reforms without changes.

Labor and the Coalition are on track to pass electoral reforms that set new caps on donations and outlays on political campaigns, but the Greens and crossbenchers see this as an agreement to help the major parties at the expense of independents.

Labor will need the Greens and the crossbench to pass crucial motions to guillotine debate and force a final vote on its bills.

Independent senator David Pocock called for more sitting days for the Senate before the end of the year so it could debate the changes, saying he opposed the rush on bills, including electoral laws.

“What I won’t support is rushing through legislation to give politicians more taxpayer money and lock out new community independents,” Pocock said.

“There are 30 bills listed in the Senate this week – clearly we need to sit longer to get through them with proper scrutiny.”

Tasmanian independent Tammy Tyrrell was scathing about the government tactics and questioned the need for guillotine measures.

“It’s not the Senate’s job to push through bills so the major parties can get a headline,” she said.

“Some bills, like the wage increase for childcare workers, need to be passed, otherwise thousands of Tasmanian childcare workers will miss out. But other bills are complex issues and need more time.”

Her Tasmanian colleague, Jacqui Lambie, singled out the electoral laws as a danger because she believed they would provide more government funding for the major parties.

“This government is finishing the year the way they started it – pushing through bills that are rushed and undercooked rare to the bone,” Lambie said.

Victorian independent Lidia Thorpe said the government had taken a “shocking” approach to negotiating its agenda.

“They’re ramming through too much legislation at short notice and haven’t put in the work to engage properly with the community and work with the crossbench,” she said.

“There’s a real lack of accountability here, and it’s the sort of behaviour that shows how desperate and unorganised they have become.

“I’m wanting to see a minority government after the next election because a stronger crossbench will force them to lift their game.”

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