The Australian Greens have recommitted to backing renters, who the minor party says have been left behind by federal, state and territory governments despite planned reforms.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, premiers and chief ministers agreed to rental market reforms at a national cabinet meeting on Wednesday, which includes limiting rent increases to once a year and creating minimum rental standards.
The reforms include developing a nationwide policy to require landlords to provide genuine, reasonable grounds for evictions.
Mr Albanese also offered a multi-billion dollar carrot to build new dwellings, announcing the construction of 1.2 million homes in the next five years, an increase of 200,000 dwellings from a previous target.
States and territories will be offered $15,000 for each new home they build from $3 billion in federal funding for 200,000 new dwellings.
The Greens had opposed the federal government’s $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, arguing a lack of support to renters, delaying debate on the bill until October.
Greens leader Adam Bandt said his party would discuss whether the national cabinet outcomes would secure its support for the fund.
But his initial response was that the measures didn’t go far enough to address the rental crisis.
“We are in a fight to push Labor to deliver for renters and we are not going to stop,” he told ABC Radio on Thursday.
“We have bent over backwards to negotiate with the government on this and to push for action on renters and to get the government to take the rental crisis seriously.
“In a full-blown rental crisis, we need action now and instead it looks like we’re getting more of the same.”
Mr Bandt criticised the decision not to stop unlimited rent rises altogether, saying an increase once a year could still crush renters.
“(The Greens) proposed a rent freeze for two years and limiting it after that, but we’ve said we are prepared to negotiate on that and it seems like Labor is not,” he said.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton questioned whether the Albanese government would be able to deliver the promised increase in housing.
He said the prime minister was giving false hope to Australians.
“The trouble is that figures don’t mean anything under this prime minister,” he told reporters in Penrith.
“As we’ve seen in relation to other issues, he just doesn’t get across the detail, he makes the announcement but there’s no delivery.”
Independent MP Dai Le said despite all the talk she didn’t know whether there would ever be extra houses built.
“The more that people talk, but actually don’t bring people together to work and start planning, it is not going to happen and we’re not going to see any houses being built,” she told Sky News.
“We know the problem and we just need a solution.”
