Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

As we made clear yesterday, the Greens will be supporting the passage of this bill through the Senate after reaching an agreement with the government on an additional $1 billion in immediate funding for public and community housing, which is on top of the $2 billion that we had already forced from this government. Importantly, instead of the government's gamble on the stock market, we also secured an agreement from the government to guarantee a flow of $500 million in annual disbursements from the Housing Australia Future Fund, to which some of the government amendments before the committee today give effect and which we will be supporting.

I'm also proud that the Greens have been able to push Labor to build these homes to a high disability standard as part of these negotiations. From day one, we have been crystal clear and completely transparent about what we have been asking for to tackle this housing crisis that millions in our community are struggling and suffering under, and the agreements with the government move us in that direction. There is nothing sinister about these agreements, as the opposition seems to imply—probably because they judge everyone from their standard. I also want to make clear that while many of the non-government amendments before the Senate have merit, because of the agreement with the government, we will only be supporting amendments that give effect to that agreement. Finally, as our second reading amendment makes clear, we will continue our fight for a rent freeze and for rent caps. The community movement for renters' rights has grown immensely over the last nine months, and the Greens will not stop until the federal and state Labor governments are forced to respond to the scale of the rental and housing crisis in this country.