A lot has been said and written about Labor’s housing bill, and the Greens’ response. That’s a good thing because Australia is in the grips of a housing and rental crisis.
Labor’s proposal is culpably inadequate. It will see demand for social and affordable housing rise over the next five years, and offers nothing whatsoever for renters who are getting smashed by historically high rent rises.
The Greens have been fighting to ensure Labor’s centrepiece housing policy actually tackles the scale of the crisis.
And we’ve already had some success. As a result of the Greens holding firm, Labor’s maximum annual spend of $500m has become a minimum spend. And we have also secured an extra $2 billion of immediate investment in social housing. This funding has been released and is available to be spent immediately.
$50 million of this money will come to Tasmania.
These outcomes are a direct result of our willingness to stand firm. Our pressure has created and brought forward real spending for social housing nationally and in Tasmania.
There is a massive distance between Labor’s proposal and the Greens’ ambition.
Housing Minister Julie Collins has confirmed that Labor sees social housing as an investment and asset class. Our view is very different. Housing is a human right, and in a wealthy country like Australia we can afford for everyone to have a home.
We were told it wasn’t possible to improve Labor’s package, but it seems some things are only impossible until they’re not.
Which brings us to the Greens’ current ask: an annual minimum spend of $2.5b, and action on skyrocketing rents.
National Cabinet is currently considering rental laws across the country. We want to see it come to an agreement to make unlimited rent rises unlawful.
That process is due to report in October, so we’ve said we will consider the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) after that.
Despite Labor’s spin, this won’t delay homes being built. The HAFF will not build a single home until after the next election in 2025 because there will be no disbursements from the fund until 2024/25 at the earliest.
In the meantime, the pressure is on Labor – which holds every National Cabinet seat bar one – to act on the rental crisis.
Rising rents are already having a devastating impact across the country, and Tasmania is at the epicentre. Hobart is the most unaffordable capital city in the country in which to rent.
Nationwide, capital city rents increased six times faster than wages in the last year. The Governor of the Reserve Bank has said he expects rents will increase another 10% this year, if not more.
Labor has now incentivised the states to pass planning reform in exchange for the $2 billion housing spend. Exactly the same model could be used to incentivise a cap on rent increases.
The reason the Greens are fighting so hard to limit rent increases is because unless we control rents the queues for public housing will blow out even more than they have already.
The current shortage of social and affordable housing in Australia is 640,000 homes and is due to grow by 75,000 homes in the next five years.
Labor’s entire plan, at best, will build 30,000 social and affordable homes over five years.
The Federal Government’s own expert housing body has said we need $15 billion of investment every year to tackle the housing crisis.
Meanwhile, 62% of the over 8 million people who rent are already in financial stress.
If Labor’s plan goes through now, without locking in greater investment every year and national limits on rent increases, millions of people will be left behind and things will get much worse for a lot more people.
Which brings us to Senators Jacqui Lambie and Tammy Tyrrell.
I never thought I’d see the day that they would parrot lines like Labor backbenchers, but here we are. They have been completely taken in by Labor spin, and have given up on trying to demand better for Tasmania.
Since the Greens have held the line, the government has made some significant improvements.
Had we folded, as Senator Tyrrell and the Murdoch press demanded, there would be no $500m guaranteed minimum spend, the $2 billion would not have been released, and the $50 million would not be coming to Tasmania.
This is funding that was greatly welcomed by the Rockliff Government – no friend of the Greens. These are tangible benefits that have come directly as a result of the Greens refusing to sell out as the Lambie party did.
We are now unapologetically demanding an increased annual spend and real action for renters.
We have been consistent since the beginning of this debate. Renters are a third of the population. They have been smashed for years and we will not leave them behind.
There is often only one opportunity per term of Government to get legislation right.
Unlimited rent increases should be illegal – this shouldn’t be a controversial statement.
The Greens were not elected to rubber stamp Labor’s inadequate proposal. We were elected to use our balance of power in the Senate to take strong action for renters and people in housing stress.
That’s what we’re doing, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.
Senator Nick McKim is the Greens spokesperson for Immigration and Economic Justice. Before entering the Senate he was a Greens MP for the seat of Franklin from 2002 until 2015, including serving as leader between 2006 and 2014. In 2010, he became Australia’s first ever Greens Minister.
