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Labor failed to secure a Senate vote on a key housing policy after almost all non-government senators blocked a motion that would have allowed one, with a minister accusing them of forming an “unbelievable alliance”.
The federal government’s Senate leader Penny Wong moved to suspend standing orders to bring to a vote on Tuesday afternoon. That motion was defeated 38-21, with all non-government senators besides independents Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock voting against it.
Immediately after the motion was defeated, cabinet minister Murray Watt accused the Greens of letting “perfect be the enemy of the good”.
“Voting not just with Peter Dutton and the Coalition, but also [Pauline] Hanson and One Nation,” he said.
Watt added that the “extreme right and extreme left” of Australian politics had paired up to “stop young people from being able to buy a home”.
Cabinet minister Murray Watt accused the Greens of letting “perfect be the enemy of the good”. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
After his senators helped shoot down the motion, Greens leader Adam Bandt told reporters he wanted the federal government to negotiate and stop “bulldozing”.
The Greens are critical of the Help to Buy scheme, which they claim will drive up house prices, and the which is also stalled in the Senate. They claim the latter will give unfair tax breaks to developers.
“We would like to see the parliament take action on the housing and rental crisis… there are things the government can do right now to help,” Bandt told reporters.
“What we’ve seen from the prime minister [Anthony Albanese] today is sheer arrogance that says it’s my way or the highway.”
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young also accused Albanese of being “a bulldozer” in his dealings with the Senate while in the upper house on Tuesday — an assessment Wong rejected.
“I mean, 290 days you’ve had to deal with the housing legislation. Now you’re complaining about being bulldozed,” Wong said.
Hanson-Young’s question related to climate change.
‘Get on with it’
Albanese told ABC Sydney the Greens’ claims the Help to Buy scheme would increase house prices were “nonsense” and urged the party to “get on with it”.
The Grattan Institute predicts a marginal increase of 0.016 per cent or the equivalent of $113 for a $700,000 home.
“For goodness sake. Get on with it. Vote for this legislation, or be honest and vote against it, rather than what is effectively a vote against the legislation along with the Coalition,” Albanese said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Albanese refused to rule out a double dissolution election his government was unable to pass its Help to Buy and Build to Rent schemes, as well as a separate environment law overhaul, unamended.
“Well, we’ll wait and see, Albanese said after being asked about the prospect of a double dissolution election.
I’ll tell you one way to avoid a [double dissolution] is for the Coalition and the Greens to vote for legislation that they support,” he told reporters.
“We’re always open to sensible discussions … but what we won’t do is undermine our own legislation with amendments when it stands on its merits.”
‘A betrayal of every renter and first-home buyer’
A double dissolution election dissolves both chambers of parliament, meaning all members would be up for election instead of half of the Senate usually up at an ordinary election — the next of which is due in May 2025.
A trigger for one is only established after the same piece of unamended legislation is voted down twice, and such an election can’t be held within six months of a regular election. The tight time frames mean it’s unlikely to happen.
Talk of a double dissolution election also as the government struggled to win the Greens’ support for its — though this was .
In a post to X (formerly twitter), Bandt said such a move would be “a betrayal of every renter and first-home buyer” as he urged the government to negotiate.
Greens leader Adam Bandt says he wants the government to negotiate on housing policy. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
The Greens want the government to amend its housing bills by including a cap on rent increases, further investment in public housing, and a phase-out of tax handouts for property developers.
They also want to adjust Labor’s proposed environment law overhaul — the Nature Positive legislation — to at consider the impact mining and gas projects can have on climate change.
Albanese has said boosting supply levels was the best way to solve housing affordability issues.
It’s estimated 40,000 Australians would be able to buy their first property through the Help to Buy scheme.
The Opposition’s home ownership spokesman Andrew Bragg said “Australians need to own houses, not the government”.
A similar program, the Home Guarantee Scheme had been used by 120,000 people.
With the Australian Associated Press.