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In exchange for the Greens’ support of the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill, the government has today agreed to spend a further $1 billion in immediate and direct spending on public and community housing. The funding will be distributed through the National Housing and Investment Finance Corporation.

This brings the total housing spend extracted from Labor by the Greens to $3 billion immediately and directly – six times the maximum the government was initially willing to spend on an annual basis. The government earlier this year announced $2b would be directly spent from consolidated revenue this year, and now the Greens have secured an additional $1b. 

From the outset, the Greens identified two major problems with the HAFF: the initial bill provided woefully insufficient funding for housing now, as it was entirely contingent on stock market returns; and it does nothing for the one third of the country who rent.

Since negotiations began, the government has agreed to a guarantee that the HAFF would disburse $500m regardless of the performance of the fund, and has now agreed to an additional $3 billion directly spent on housing and delivered immediately. Importantly the Greens have also forced the issue of the rental crisis onto the national agenda.

With these changes, the Greens say that it does more to urgently fund housing, with the $3 billion immediately and directly spent on housing, instead of the delayed and indirect model of the HAFF. The Greens will accept this offer and use balance of power to pass the Housing Australia Future Fund during this sitting fortnight.

However, with Labor still refusing to do anything to support renters, and with further significant Senate balance of power bills coming up, the Greens have warned that the campaign to force the government to move on renters has just begun. 

Summary of outcomes from Greens pressure:

• Immediate $1 billion for public and community housing through the National Housing Infrastructure Facility (NHIF SAH)
• Immediate $2 billion to the social housing accelerator fund
• Closed the “no minimum spend” HAFF loophole, and forced Labor to guarantee a $500 million annual spend starting 2024-25. Previously, the government could spend anything from $0 annually up to the $500m cap.

Adam Bandt MP, Leader of the Australian Greens said:

“Renters are powerful and the Greens are the party of renters. We have won more money for housing for renters, and rent control is next,” Mr Bandt said.

“Nine months ago, the government refused to guarantee a single dollar for housing, and renters barely even registered in the national debate. The Greens have secured $3 billion directly spent on housing, and renters are now a vocal social movement that won’t be ignored.

“Labor’s HAFF still won’t fix the housing crisis, but the Greens have secured $3 billion dollars for housing right now – not relying on a gamble on the stock market – and we’ve got to a position where it can pass the Senate.

“Renters have watched on in horror as Labor has refused to cap and freeze soaring rents. 

“I say this to Labor: if you continue to ignore renters, your political pain has just begun. There are several more significant bills on the immediate horizon where the Greens will use our position in balance of power to push the government to address soaring rents with a freeze and cap on rents.

“Pressure works. Labor said there was no more money for housing this year and we pushed them to find $3b, and although Labor backs unlimited rent rises, we’ll push them on that too.

“Renters are on the march, and the Greens will be fighting alongside them all the way.”

Greens housing and homelessness spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather MP said:

“Nine months ago there wasn’t a single dollar of guaranteed investment in public and community housing and renters were invisible, and now there is $3 billion going out the door right now and renters have a national voice for the first time because the Greens stood up and fought.

“Greens power secured six times what Labor wanted to spend on social housing in a single year for public and community housing, and now we are going to use that power to win a freeze and cap on rent increases. 

“Our message to renters is your voice and vote is powerful and the Greens are ready to fight for you, and know that we won’t stop until every renter in this country has a safe and affordable place to call home. 

“We couldn’t get Labor to care about the one third of this country who rents, so we are putting Labor on notice for every future housing bill, the Greens are ready to stand up and fight for a freeze and cap on rent increases. 

“Labor had the opportunity to freeze and cap rent increases through National Cabinet and they refused, so from now on every rent increase is Labor’s fault, and come next election Labor should be prepared to hear from renters loud and clear they are fed up with being treated as second class citizens. 

“To every housing organisation and crossbench MP who told us to pass the HAFF Bill in its original form, sit up and pay attention. When we stay at the negotiating table we get outcomes, and $3 billion of additional guaranteed and immediate money is proof that Greens in balance of power can drag Labor kicking and screaming to taking meaningful action. If we praise the Labor party for offering crumbs, that’s all we’ll get.”
 

September 11th 2023 is the 50th anniversary of the military coup that brought dictator Augusto Pinochet to power in Chile. 

In recognition of the anniversary,  the Australian Greens will launch a number of parliamentary actions in solidarity with the Chilean-Australian community. 

The actions call for acknowledgment and disclosure of Australia’s involvement in the Pinochet Coup. 
Senator Jordon Steele-John, Greens spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Peace said: 

“The Chilean-Australian community have been campaigning for years to have the Australian government acknowledge its role in installing a military dictator in Chile 50 years ago today. 

“Today is a dark day for the Chilean community. Under the Pinochet regime, thousands died, tens of thousands were tortured and hundreds of thousands were exiled. 

“50 years on we know Australia was involved, as it worked to support the US national interest. To this day, Australia’s secretive and unaccountable national security apparatus has blocked the release of information and has denied closure for thousands of Chilean-Australian’s.

“The Greens are calling on the Australian government to apologise to the Chilean people, declassify any documents relating to ASIS and ASIO support for the Pinochet regime, and implement oversight and reform to our intelligence agencies to ensure this can never happen again.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been caught out misrepresenting the latest wages data to claim the average worker is better off under Labor.

Treasury analysis claiming Australian workers were better off under Labor fails to account for the impacts of inflation, collapsing labour productivity and the fact that GDP per capita fell by -0.3% in Labor’s first year in office.

Asked in Senate Question Time whether Treasury analysis promoted by the Treasurer accounted for inflation, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher couldn’t name the real wages outcome for the last financial year.

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor said this is further proof that the Treasurer is a Doctor of Spin not a Doctor of Economics.

“The conga line of Labor Ministers claiming this analysis as a victory shows the Treasurer and the government are completely out of touch with the very real and painful cost of living pressures facing Australian families,” Mr Taylor said.

“Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows working households are in fact paying 9.6 per cent more under this government.

“Mortgage bills have doubled, power bills are up more than 15 per cent, productivity has fallen off a cliff and last week’s National Accounts revealed we’re now in a per capita recession. This means the only thing left propping up our economy is record population growth.

“Australians need a Treasurer laser-focused on fighting inflation but instead they have a tricky Treasurer who is more interested in spinning numbers then solving the cost of living crisis.

“A Treasurer focused on reinventing capitalism, wasting money, raising taxes, reshaping the productivity commission to suit Labor’s big Australia agenda and prioritising airlines to drive up the cost of airfares then take its competition policy seriously.”

Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Michaelia Cash said the truth is the Albanese Labor Government is a walking talking economic disaster.

“The Albanese Labor Government thinks it can con Australians into believing that they are better off under Labor,” Senator Cash said.

“But Labor’s extreme spin can’t hide the truth that Australians’ real wages are falling under Labor.”

ENDS.

A series of secret emails have exposed Industry Minister Ed Husic and the Prime Minister’s office directing Australian public servants to hide the axing of a key national security space program from our most important ally and partner in critical space technology, the United States of America.

The emails capture correspondence between Minister Husic’s office, public servants in Australia and in the Australian Embassy in Washington DC, relating to the axing of the $1.2 billion National Space Mission for Earth Observation satellite program.

The now declassified emails reveal that behind Labor’s soaring rhetoric and slick photo ops is a disrespectful and dysfunctional management of the US relationship.

In directing public servants to deliberately keep the United States in the dark about this major change to Australia’s space policy settings until just hours before it would be announced, and after media outlets had been tipped off, this Labor Government has breached faith with our most important ally.

Shockingly, it fell to a public servant in Australia’s Embassy to plead for permission to brief the White House’s Space Council (NSpC) after the briefings that had been locked in with the White House and NASA were cancelled at the direction of the Minister’s office. This request was initially refused, but eventually accepted.

But for Australia’s extraordinarily capable diplomats, the Prime Minister would have had our most important ally learn about Australia’s 180 degree turn on space policy in media reports.

This is not how we treat our mates.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Industry, Sussan Ley said that given Australia faces the most dangerous strategic circumstances since the Second World War, our country’s future depended heavily on our partnership with the United States.

“It is very disappointing that the Albanese Government has been caught secretly plotting to deliberately keep the United States Administration in the dark about cuts to space,” the Deputy Leader said.

“Building the industries underpinning AUKUS demand close communication and solid relationships with the United States – this breach of trust by Ed Husic places all of this at risk.

“These secret moves show that Ed Husic knew the United States would be disappointed by Australia’s cuts to a critically important national security industry. I suspect the US will be wondering if Ed Husic can be trusted to deliver the industrial policies needed to realise the grand ambitions of AUKUS.”

Shadow Minister for Science Paul Fletcher said Labor’s decision to axe the $1.2 billion National Space Mission for Earth Observation program shows they do not comprehend the important role our space industry plays in Australia’s scientific, economic and diplomatic future.

“Labor’s appalling behaviour towards the United States, in deliberately holding them out in the cold on the decision to cancel this important space program, demonstrates a lack of respect for our closest ally,” Mr Fletcher said.

“Our space industry will be worse off because of this axing and the deliberate and arrogant handling of the axing with the United States. The space sector must be wondering how they are better off under the Labor Government.”

Ed Husic claims to be someone who wants to ‘build things in Australia’, yet with every decision he makes, Australia’s industrial base diminishes.

In this latest episode, in conjunction with the Prime Minister’s office, he has now diminished our standing in Washington at exactly the wrong time.