Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. How is the Albanese Labor government working to improve access to affordable housing, and why has the Housing Australia Future Fund failed to pass?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Gilmore for her question. Of course, the government does have a comprehensive plan for housing, and we've been acting. Just on Saturday we announced our $2 billion social housing accelerator, and we want that to add to our $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, which has failed to pass the Senate.

I was heartened to see this morning a media release. It came across my desk today, and it said this: 'Greens set to negotiate with government on housing bill'. It said the 'Greens are ready to negotiate in good faith to get the public community the affordable housing Australia desperately needs'. I thought: 'You beauty! They've woken up to themselves.' But then I saw the date at the bottom: 4 October 2022.

Since then it's been clear there's no good faith here, just a political party driven by self-interest which is prepared to declare in writing:

… this parliamentary conflict helps create the space for a broader campaign …

that's prepared to declare:

While Parliament has debated the HAFF, the Greens have also launched a national door-knocking campaign targeted at Labor-held federal electorates.

that's prepared to declare in writing:

Allowing the HAFF to pass would demobilize the growing section of civil society that is justifiably angry about the degree of poverty and financial stress that exists in such a wealthy country.

Faced with being in parliament and in a position to actually try and address poverty and financial stress, they declare in writing that that would demobilise the movement against poverty and financial stress. Therefore, they blocked the Housing Australia Future Fund.

Now, Australians rejected the pathology of political conflict that had defined the Morrison government—always looking for an argument and never looking for a solution—but Australians will also reject the phony political conflict being waged by the Greens political party. You can't say you support public housing while you're voting against it. You can't say that you're serious about protecting vulnerable people in our society while you're voting against public housing. Vulnerable people should not be the collateral damage in your manufactured political conflict. It's time to stop blocking so we can start building.

Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Max is in your head, Albo! Max is living rent-free in there!

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Deakin will leave the chamber under 94(a). I'm not mucking around today.