Green Party housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said he was “deeply disappointed” by the new housing minister’s response to his call to return to the negotiating table to resolve the housing crisis.
“This shows once again that the Labour Party has not changed its failed housing policy. They have simply decided to hire a new salesman,” he told Sky News on Sunday.
In a ministerial reshuffle last month, Clare O’Neil left the Home Affairs portfolio to take on the role of Director of Housing and Homelessness.
Following her appointment, Chandler-Mather sent an open letter calling on her to reverse “the government’s decision to refuse to negotiate with the Greens on housing” amid “one of the worst housing and rent crises in our country’s history.”
Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather says the Albanese government’s housing policy has failed. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)
Both the Greens and the Coalition continue to oppose key parts of the government’s housing legislation, including the shared equity Help to Buy scheme and tax changes to encourage build-to-rent projects.
Both parties are pushing for alternative solutions. The Greens are in favor of rent controls and more social housing, while the opposition wants to promote home ownership by allowing buyers to access their retirement savings.
Employment Minister Murray Watt said the Greens were constantly looking for an excuse to prevent the Labour Party from building housing.
“Green voters are getting fed up with the Greens standing in the way of Labour’s efforts to make a real difference,” he told Sky News on Sunday.
“What we need now is more housing and not more political sensationalism.”
According to Chandler-Mather, the government is more interested in tax breaks for real estate developers and investors than in putting the money directly into the construction of public and affordable housing.
“The new minister (Clare O’Neil) claims that she cares about people who are going through a difficult time,” he said.
“Well then, let your actions speak – show that you care and actually do something practical for the millions of people who are being shaken by the housing crisis,” he said on Sunday.
Chandler Mather called on the minister to examine the Greens’ plan to appoint a state developer to create affordable housing, abolish negative gearing and capital gains tax relief, coordinate a two-year rent freeze and caps on rent increases, and double funding for social housing.
