Turning to federal politics for a moment: Housing is the topic of the day in Canberra as debate kicks off in the Senate, in a week when only the upper house is sitting.

The Help to Buy bill is being debated today, but the Liberal Party, the Nationals and the Greens are united in their opposition to the bill and are set to block it from passing.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the bill presents a prime opportunity to improve housing supply.

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“When it comes to housing, we are building; the coalition and the Greens have been blocking,” he told reporters this morning.

Help To Buy would reduce deposit requirements for first home buyers via a government loan guarantee.

Similar schemes already operate in WA, the ACT, NSW and Victoria, and Albanese said the federal version should have “sailed through parliament”.

But Queensland Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather claims it will drive up house prices for those who don’t get access to the program.

A second bill dubbed Build to Rent, which is designed to encourage the construction of long-term rentals, is due to be debated at a later date.

“Neither will give light at the end of the tunnel for the single mum right now choosing between feeding her kids or paying the rent,” Chandler-Mather told ABC radio.