Max Chandler-Mather (Griffith, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move amendments (1) to (6) together:

(1) Clause 2A, page 2 (line 19), at the end of paragraph (b), add "(so that, by 2050, social housing represents 10% of Australian dwellings)".

(2) Page 8 (after line 20), after clause 4, insert:

4A References to affordable housing

To avoid doubt, a reference in this Act to affordable housing includes a reference to:

(a) rental housing; and

(b) housing that costs no more than 30% of income for the bottom 40% of households by income.

(3) Clause 18, page 18 (lines 22 and 23), omit subclause (7), substitute:

(7) A grant under subsection (1) must not be made to a person or body unless the person or body:

(a) is one of the following:

(i) a body politic;

(ii) a non-profit organisation;

(iii) a partnership, if at least one of the partners is an entity mentioned in subparagraph (i) or (ii); and

(b) has applied for the grant.

(4) Clause 56, page 43 (after line 9), at the end of the clause, add:

The Finance Minister must give 6-monthly reports to Parliament about the operation of the Housing Australia Future Fund.

(5) Page 44 (after line 16), at the end of Part 7, add:

59 A Reports to Parliament about Housing Australia Future Fund

(1) As soon as practicable after the end of each reporting period, the Finance Minister must prepare a report about the operation of the Housing Australia Future Fund during the period.

(2) The report for a reporting period must include information about the following:

(a) housing outcomes achieved during the period, including the type and location of housing delivered;

(b) progress on housing projects not yet completed;

(c) grants made under section 18 during the period, including:

(i) the amount of each grant; and

(ii) the recipient of each grant; and

(iii) the housing projects to which each grant relates, including the number of social, affordable and other houses it will deliver; and

(iv) the decision-making criteria used in making the grant;

(d) amounts transferred from the Housing Australia Future Fund Special Account to the Housing Australia Future Fund Payments Special Account and the COAG Reform Fund during the period, including:

(i) the grants to which the amounts relate; and

(ii) the amount of each grant; and

(iii) the recipient of each grant; and

(iv) the housing projects to which each grant relates, including the number of social, affordable and other houses it will deliver; and

(v) the decision-making criteria used in making the grant.

(3) The Finance Minister must cause a copy of the report to be laid before each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the report is prepared.

(4) For the purposes of this section, reporting period means:

(a) the period of 6 months beginning on the day this section commences; and

(b) each subsequent 6-month period.

(6) Clause 65, page 47 (line 20) to page 48 (line 29), omit the clause, substitute:

65 Periodic reviews of the operation of this Act

(1) The Housing Minister must cause independent reviews to be conducted of the operation of this Act.

(2) The person or persons who conduct the review must give the Housing Minister a written report of the review that includes information about the following:

(a) progress towards meeting the target of delivering 30,000 social and affordable homes during the first 5 years of the operation of this Act;

(b) whether the operation of this Act has increased the proportion of social and affordable housing in Australia, including progress towards meeting the target of social housing representing 10% of Australian dwellings by 2050;

(c) the adequacy and appropriateness of:

(i) the total value of the Housing Australia Future Fund; and

(ii) the annual limit on amounts debited from the Housing Australia Future Fund Special Account, as set out in section 36.

(3) The Housing Minister must cause a copy of a report under subsection (2) to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the review is completed.

(4) The first review under subsection (1) must be completed within 2 years after the commencement of this Act.

(5) Each subsequent review under subsection (1) must be completed within 2 years after the completion of the previous review.

(6) For the purposes of subsections (3), (4) and (5), a review is completed when the report of the review is given to the Housing Minister under subsection (2).

The Greens are moving a series of amendments to this deeply flawed Housing Australia Future Fund Bill. Again, it is genuinely remarkable to listen to all of this hatred from this side of the House. Let's go through the amendments. We want to introduce a target that 10 per cent of all Australian dwellings by 2050 are social housing. Let's be clear about this. How often have you said you want to negotiate in good faith? How often? Is this your idea of negotiating in good faith? It's your way or the highway, and your way is hundreds of thousands of people stuck on the social housing waitlists, homeless and unable to afford rental housing. How dare you. Let's have a little bit of a history lesson—

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