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The future of Labor’s shared equity home buying scheme is in doubt as the legislation could be held up by the Greens.
The Help to Buy program was one of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s key housing promises heading into the 2022 federal election, but passage of the legislation to put the scheme into practice now might rest on whether the government is willing to negotiate on its negative gearing stance.
Greens leader Adam Bandt said the party would be demanding significant changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount as the Labor party sought Greens members’ support of the legislation.
“In negotiations with the government over the Help to Buy legislation, we’ll push Labor to end the tax handouts for big property investors, freeze rents and build public housing to help renters and first home buyers,” Mr Bandt announced last week.
During a press conference in Nowra on Sunday, 19 February, the Prime Minister was pressed on whether the government would negotiate with the Greens to ensure the policy passes Parliament.
Mr Albanese appeared to suggest that he was prepared to see the program shelved instead of bowing to the pressure.
“The Greens can vote for it, or they can vote against it. If they vote against it, they’ll be voting against helping Australians into home ownership. It’s as simple as that,” the Prime Minister said.
“I think people are seeing through the Greens, where they offer nothing positive,” he added.
Mr Albanese expressed his confidence in the ability of the scheme – should it become a reality – to make it easier for Australians to purchase homes, given that similar statewide programs are already in operation in Western Australia, Victoria and NSW.
He accused the Greens of dancing around the issue of the efficacy of the scheme that their demands run the risk of torpedoing.
“This is a scheme that will work. And I noticed that the Greens won’t talk about this particular legislation. They’ll talk about something else, well, just like they held up support for increased investment in social homes, in public housing and affordable housing, now they’re saying they’re going to hold up increased home ownership,” Mr Albanese said.
He opined that the Greens lacked concrete plans to address the housing issues plaguing the nation.
“We have a comprehensive plan for housing; they just have slogans, which is why they’re a party of slogans. We’re a party of government that’s interested in making a difference,” Mr Albanese said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Helmke
Based in Sydney, Juliet Helmke has a broad range of reporting and editorial experience across the areas of business, technology, entertainment and the arts. She was formerly Senior Editor at The New York Observer.
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