Big issue looms on Albo’s housing plan

Anthony Albanese is facing a roadblock in getting his centrepiece housing policy through parliament after the opposition ruled out supporting it.

The Liberals and Nationals have confirmed they will oppose the $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund after coming to the decision at the Coalition’s party room meeting on Tuesday morning.

The decision means the government is set to have to make changes to the policy given it will now have to rely on the Greens and the crossbench to get the legislation through the Senate.

As it stands, Labor is planning to provide an initial credit of $10bn for the fund.

The money would be invested to generate a dividend that would be used to pay housing providers a subsidy for building social and affordable housing.

The fund is meant to deliver 30,000 new social and affordable homes over the next five years, including 4000 homes for women and children affected by domestic violence or older women at risk of homelessness.

The fund would be managed by the existing Future Fund Board of Guardians, which decides how to invest the Commonwealth’s sovereign wealth funds, with payments to be capped at $500m a year.

The Liberals and Nationals will support the other two pillars of Labor’s housing policy — setting up a new National Housing Supply and Affordability Council to provide independent advice to government, and developing a new National Housing and Homelessness Plan.

But the Coalition warned against the Housing Australia Future Fund, citing uncertainty around how much it would actually return each year.

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley argued the fund would do little to address housing shortages.

“I don’t see the government demonstrating how it will immediately solve the housing crisis,” she told reporters.

“I just see another bucket of money off to one side, spending priorities all wrong when it comes to where Australians want to see leadership from Anthony Albanese.”

The Greens on the other hand have said the policy doesn’t go far enough.

The progressive party, which holds the balance of power in the Senate, released a list of demands it wants met in exchange for its support, including removing the annual payment cap.

Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather ­has argued the existing policy would amount to a cut in housing funding each year and not go far enough to meet demand.

“Rather than gambling $10bn on the stock market and investing sporadic returns capped at $500m, the Greens want to see a minimum $5bn invested in social and affordable housing every year,” Mr Chandler-Mather said.

Labor doesn’t hold a majority in the upper house, where it now needs the support of the Greens and two crossbench senators to pass legislation without the Coalition’s support.

The Albanese government is facing an increasingly hostile Senate after the Greens teamed up with the Coalition and independents to overturn new superannuation regulations and then warned Mr Albanese not to take their support for granted.

Labor will also need to negotiate with the Greens on another one of its signature investment policies, the National Reconstruction Fund, after the Coalition ruled out supporting it at a party room meeting last week.