Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has dubbed the Greens and Coalition the “No-alition” after they joined forces to delay the government’s build-to-rent scheme in the Senate earlier today.
As reported in this blog earlier, the Senate voted the government’s laws from scheme off from buy now, pay later reform and sent it to a Senate inquiry, which won’t report until September 4.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in question time yesterday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
In question time moments ago, the prime minister was particularly critical of the Greens, taking the unusual step of tabling their press release about the vote.
“When it comes to housing, there’s been a vote over there in the Senate this morning where, once again, we seem to see ‘No-alition’ – and the Coalition and the Greens get together once again,” he said.
Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather earlier criticised the build-to-rent scheme for handing out money to property developers, which he said, “helped create the housing crisis in the first place”.
Albanese mocked this notion: “The reason why the Greens say they oppose it is because developers will build the new housing. And they voted for that proposition! Who do you think built houses?”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers later got stuck into them as well.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers in May.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“The consequences of your vote, could be 160,000 fewer homes for homeless people and young people to rent,” Chalmers said.
“Now, if you really gave a stuff about homelessness in this country, you would vote for the policies that would build more housing supply in this country. And you wouldn’t conduct this ridiculous, underhanded, hypocritical campaign, which sees you vote more frequently with them [the Coalition] than with us.”
The speaker soon told Chandler-Mather to cease interjecting as back-and-forth barbs were exchanged between Labor MPs and the Greens housing spokesperson.
Two MPs have previously made complaints to the Speaker of the House of Representatives about “vicious” attacks from Labor MPs towards Chandler-Mather. The first-term MP has led the Greens’ efforts to force the government to adopt more radical measures to improve housing affordability, often claiming Labor’s solutions don’t go far enough.