‘Time to stop playing games’: Housing minister hits back
Housing Minister Clare O’Neil has hit back at the Greens, claiming the minor party has done little to negotiate to end the Senate’s housing stalemate.
Speaking with ABC’s News Breakfast, the Labor frontbencher says she had advice the Greens’ latest proposal was “unlawful and unworkable”.
(You can read more about that here).
She says she knows the Greens think the bills are “good ideas” as one of them is in the minor party’s platform that they took to the last election.
“For 2.5 years now, the Australian Greens have done nothing but block and delay the action the government has attempted to take housing,” she says.
“They’ve worked with Peter Dutton to do so.
“It’s time to stop playing games.”
‘PM’s ego’ getting in the way of housing deal, Greens say
Greens senator Larissa Waters has taken aim at the government after it rejected the minor party’s latest attempt to end a Senate stalemate over two housing bills.
Labor is set to bring on a vote to pass its Help to Buy and Build to Rent schemes, even though it doesn’t have the support of The Greens or Coalition.
Speaking with ABC’s News Breakfast this morning, Waters said she was astounded the government knocked back the Greens’ offer.
“It seems like the prime minister’s ego is getting in the way of people having the homes they need,” she said.
“I can’t quite understand the psychology there. We are willing to work with the government to get good outcomes for people.”
Are the Greens willing to block the bills?
“We’ll now have discussions about what we should do and what will best help renters and people who are trying to get a roof over their heads,” she says.
“We’re just extraordinarily disappointed that the prime minister seems to have dug his heels in.”
‘An absolute mess’: Lambie says she wants a deal reached on housing
Independent Jacqui Lambie has urged the Greens to strike a deal with the government to pass two key housing bills this week.
The Help to Buy and Build to Rent schemes will be put to a vote in the final sitting week of the year without a deal to pass. The Greens latest offer was rejected.
As the final sitting week of the year closes in — potentially the last before the election — the government is applying pressure to clear its backlog.
Lambie fears that if this week is anything like the last sitting week, the government will only tick one thing off its long to do list.
“They’ve just got a list of stuff. You’ve got no idea really what they’re going to list each day,” she says.
“It’s an absolute mess up in the Senate, to be honest with you.
“But I will say one thing. We need that housing deal ticked off because people need roofs over their heads. So if anything, can they please get that done?”
Govt hearing into final week without a deal on key housing bills
Housing support to help first home buyers to purchase a property will be sent to a vote this week without a deal, meaning it will be shot down unless the Greens or Coalition change their stance.
The latest offer by the Greens to strike a deal has been rejected, though the government had consulted to see whether it could be agreed to as time runs out for legislation to be passed.
The federal government will now call the bluff of the parties, who if they reject the bill will face campaigning at the federal election that they refused housing support.
As the final sitting week of the year closes in — potentially the last before the election — the government is applying pressure to clear its backlog.
“It’s time for this silly charade to end. Australians are in real housing distress here, and the Greens need to stop working with Peter Dutton to delay action,” Housing Minister Clare O’Neil told the ABC.
“The Greens have been playing politics on this for two years now, almost everything the Labor government has tried to do on housing the Greens have either blocked or delayed, or played politics with. The time for that is over.”
👋 Good morning
Hi! Welcome to our politics live blog.
Courtney Gould from the ABC’s Parliament House team here to guide you through the morning.
Can you believe it’s the final sitting week of the year? How time flies. We’ve got a major logjam of legislation the government wants to get passed this week, so I’m anticipating it’s going to be a busy one.
Let’s get straight into it.
