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The federal government is yet to secure enough support for its proposed multi-billion-dollar housing fund, with the crossbench arguing the plan does not go far enough to help Australians struggling to keep a roof over their head.
Key points:
- The fund would spend $500 million a year building new social houses and repairing existing ones
- A number of crossbenchers say the figure does not go far enough to help those in need now, let alone in the future
- The government needs the support of two crossbenchers and the Greens to pass the legislation
Independent senators Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock, along with the Greens, are seeking changes to the Housing Australia Future Fund.
Under the $10 billion proposal, up to $500 million a year would be used to fund the construction of new homes, as well as repair and improve housing for Indigenous communities.
In its first five years, the government expects the fund to pay for the construction of 20,000 social housing properties.
Of those, 4,000 would be allocated to women and children impacted by domestic violence as well as older women at risk of homelessness.
Another 10,000 affordable homes for frontline workers would be built to ensure they could live closer to where they work.
Senator Pocock argued more money should be handed out each year.
He pointed to figures that showed the ACT social housing waitlist had passed 3,000 across the territory and under the housing fund only 540 new homes would be built in the first five years
"Given the scale of need for social and affordable housing across the country, $500 million a year is not going to cut it," he said.
"What I'm saying to the government, and what a number of crossbenchers are saying, is this is a good start, we like the idea, but let's get more ambitious."
He said negotiations with the government had not been very productive.
"We will continue to we continue to talk to them," Senator Pocock said.
"As yet, it hasn't been that positive but I'm really hoping that that'll change.
"So many people across the country are doing it tough. We're seeing frontline workers living in caravan parks. It's not good enough."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the Labor caucus meeting on Tuesday he could not comprehend why anyone would vote against the bill.
Crossbench support crucial
The government needs the support of two crossbenchers and the Greens to pass the legislation because the Coalition has refused to support it.
Like Senator Pocock, Senator Lambie wants changes to the plan.
"We are worried about the $500 million annual cap," she said.
"We are also worried with the inflation on what that $500 million looks like in the next nine or 10 years."
She confirmed she would back the legislation but stressed she still wanted changes.
"We support the bill but what we'd like to see is the bill better, so we're still in negotiations with the government of the day … we're still speaking to them on a daily basis and trying to work through this.
"We're just trying to get more bang for our buck."
Senator Lambie said more money could be found by the government if it dropped the stage 3 tax cuts.
"We've got stage 3 tax cuts out there. We can look at tapering them right down," she said.
"I'm quite sure some tough decisions need to be made by the government of the day to rein in their spending, but to also make sure those who are more disadvantaged than most of us are getting what they need so we can try to get them back on their feet, and one of them is making sure they've got a roof on their house."
Putting a figure on it
While independent senators would not put a figure on how much more money should be offered each year, the Greens have outlined their proposal in full.
The party wants $5 billion a year to be spent on the construction of new homes instead of the proposed $500 million.
It has also called on the government to increase the $200 million set aside over five years for the repair, maintenance and improvements of housing for remote Indigenous communities to $1 billion.
The Greens have recently launched a doorknocking and campaigning blitz across the country to talk about housing and rental problems.
Volunteers and members of the party have been speaking with voters in Labor-held seats in Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, ACT and Western Australia.
Greens Spokesman for Housing and Homelessness Max Chandler-Mather said the government must provide more support to a growing housing crisis.
"People were shocked to hear that with the shortage of social and affordable housing projected to grow by 75,000 to 715,000 homes in the next five years, Labor only planned to build 30,000 homes at the most, depending on the success of their gamble on the stock market," he said.
"The vast majority of people don't want Labor to gamble $10 billion of public money on the stock market, what they want is billions of dollars invested directly in building public and affordable housing and a national plan for renters that includes caps on rents."
Minister for Housing and Homelessness Julie Collins said delaying the legislation would risk building new homes needed nationally.
"I am continuing to have constructive conversations with representatives from right across the Parliament about this critical legislation," she said.
The legislation is set to be debated in the Senate this sitting fortnight, with the government keen for it to pass ahead of the May budget.