CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
The federal government’s key housing policy is set to pass parliament after coming out second best in a game of chicken with the Greens.
The government needed the support of the Greens to pass the legislation, which has sat idle for nearly 6 months after the Greens made it clear they would not be signing of anything until the government admits to the fact that the housing crisis cannot be solved without addressing the sheer lack of tenants rights and the ongoing neoliberal social cleansing that has eradicated a vast majority of public and social housing options within Australia’s largest human settlements.
The government have committed to an additional $1 billion to be spent on public and community housing this year, on top of the $2 billion already allocated to it, in return for the Greens dropping their demands for rent freezes.
The Greens say that they have no given up on the goal of installing a block on the unregulated spiking of rents amongst property investors, but have agreed to altering their terms to pass the bill in exchange for immediate action when it comes to building the types of homes Anthony Albanese was raised in before Australia started treated the human right of housing like a stock market.
Max Chandler-Mather, the Greens Member for South Brisbane and shadow Housing Minister says “We will not stop fighting, we will not rest until there is a cap and freeze on rent increases”
“Labor needs to realise if they keep ignoring renters, they will learn a harsh lesson at the next election.”
The Albanese Government’s decision to bow to the minor party is bad news for all of the Labor nerds who have gleefully plastered social media and newspapers with accusations of elitism towards the Greens, who apparently don’t want poor people living in their electorates, despite risking a double dissolution to secure $3 billion dollars to build homes for families fleeing domestic violence and homeless veterans.
With Labor MPs and their weirdo friends in the media and campaign offices around the country left stumped by a politician who does not seem interested in maintaining the hysterical and unsustainable manipulation of a property bubble that leaves over 30% of the nation facing immediate insecurity when it comes to housing, the majority of their negotiating tactics have been to accuse Chandler-Mather of being a NIMBY (not in my backyard).
His previous decisions to protest against poorly-thought-out luxury apartments that were planned for the Brisbane flood plains, and his refusal to allow heritage buildings to be torn down for high-rise Meriton shitboxes, were also used against him by political opponents who know very well his position was not rooted in a burning hatred for poor people, but a Queenslanders understanding of how inconvenient it is to have your house flooded every two years.
It is not yet known where the Labor Government plans to build these social housing developments, but it could very be them that doesn’t want to see low-socio-economic families moving into the suburbs next to their beloved universities and wine bars. In turn, proving themselves to be the NIMBYs they have accused the Greens of harbouring.
Will the Greens build 30,000 new homes two hours away from the closest hospital and high school? It won’t be in suburbs like Camperdown.
