The Greens have announced that they will back Labor’s Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) after months of protracted negotiations.
The HAFF Bill proposes $10 billion in funding to build 30,000 social and affordable homes over the next five years. Previously, the Greens had been clear in opposing the Bill, claiming that it provides no support for renters and could do more in building affordable housing.
To encourage support from the Greens, Labor allocated $2 billion to state and territory governments for a Social Housing Accelerator Fund. They also agreed to an additional $1 billion for public and community housing.
Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt told the Guardian that it was this $3 billion “that is not dependent on a gamble in the stock market”, which pushed the Greens to support the HAFF bill.
The Bill previously drew criticism from the Greens — and others on the left, including at USyd SRC Council — for investing and relying on the private sector rather than directly investing into affordable housing. Labor has since agreed to a $500 million spend from the fund each year into social and affordable housing.
The Greens pushed for the Bill to include a two-year rent-freeze, but Labor have maintained that the Commonwealth does not have the power and that it is not a viable long-term solution.
Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather maintains that rent freezes and caps are effective, stating in a press conference that “our message to the Labor party is: it’s time to start representing the one-third of this country who rents.”
USyd SRC Welfare Officer Harrison Brennan told Honi, “the Greens’ decision to strike a deal with Labor and pass the Housing Australia Future Fund when it is introduced later this year is disappointing and a complete betrayal of renters struggling nationwide.
“We need a radical change in how housing works in this country — namely the protection and extension of government-owned and managed public housing, and a slew of protections for renters, particularly a rent freeze and a permanent cap on rent increases. The Greens’ recent announcement reminds us of the need to engage in militant organising on the streets to build a movement that calls for these demands outside the parliamentary system.
“The USyd SRC Welfare Action Group and NUS GET A ROOM campaign have been instrumental in organising responses to the attacks on renters and public housing tenants. It’s vital that we keep up this momentum as the housing crisis gets worse and worse.”