Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

When the Prime Minister was asked about the Greens' very straightforward request that he incentivise rent caps through National Cabinet, he said, 'That's something that can't be done.' But when he was asked about a national public holiday should the Matildas win the World Cup—and I sincerely hope they do—he said he'd get onto it next Wednesday:

It'd be a pretty brave Australian state leader, wouldn't it, who said no to that.

What a staggering juxtaposition that is, and it shows how unwilling Labor is to actually do something meaningful to help renters in this country. When there's a sporting bandwagon the Prime Minister wants to jump on, you'd better get out of his way, but, when people renting are being thrown onto the streets through no fault of their own, because they can't afford the rent in this era of skyrocketing rents, suddenly, 'Nothing can be done, it's too hard, not my problem,' says the Prime Minister. Well, Mr Albanese might as well have said, 'I don't hold a hose, mate.'

Here are the facts: the Australian Labor Party is addicted to giving public subsidies to landlords and property speculators. Negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount are costing the budget $39 billion a year, 78 times what Labor is proposing to spend on its housing fund. By standing up to Labor, the Greens have already forced an extra $2 billion out of this government to spend on affordable housing. We stand with the 90 per cent of people polled recently who want Labor to spend more on public housing, and we stand with the 75 per cent—plus the 80 housing organisations—who want rent caps in this country now.