{"id":4985,"date":"2023-03-21T18:41:36","date_gmt":"2023-03-21T18:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=4985"},"modified":"2025-10-18T08:35:57","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T07:35:57","slug":"crossbench-senators-urge-government-to-expand-public-housing-funds-to-help-more-people-in-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/asia\/asia-pacific\/australian-news\/crossbench-senators-urge-government-to-expand-public-housing-funds-to-help-more-people-in-need\/2023\/03\/21\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"Crossbench senators urge government to expand public housing funds"},"content":{"rendered":"

CANBERRA (Brussels Independent with AAP and ABC News) By Dr.Majid khan -The<\/span> federal<\/span> government<\/span> is<\/span> yet<\/span> to<\/span> secure<\/span> enough<\/span> support<\/span> for<\/span> its<\/span> proposed<\/span> multi-billion-dollar<\/span> housing<\/span> fund,<\/span> with<\/span> the<\/span> crossbench<\/span> arguing<\/span> the<\/span> plan<\/span> does<\/span> not<\/span> go<\/span> far<\/span> enough<\/span> to<\/span> help<\/span> Australians<\/span> struggling<\/span> to<\/span> keep<\/span> a<\/span> roof<\/span> over<\/span> their<\/span> head.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> fund<\/span> would<\/span> spend<\/span> $500<\/span> million<\/span> a<\/span> year<\/span> building<\/span> new<\/span> social<\/span> houses<\/span> and<\/span> repairing<\/span> existing<\/span> ones<\/span>
\n<\/span>A<\/span> number<\/span> of<\/span> crossbenchers<\/span> say<\/span> the<\/span> figure<\/span> does<\/span> not<\/span> go<\/span> far<\/span> enough<\/span> to<\/span> help<\/span> those<\/span> in<\/span> need<\/span> now,<\/span> let<\/span> alone<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> future.<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span> government<\/span> needs<\/span> the<\/span> support<\/span> of<\/span> two<\/span> crossbenchers<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> Greens<\/span> to<\/span> pass<\/span> the<\/span> legislation<\/span>
\n<\/span>Independent<\/span> senators<\/span> Jacqui<\/span> Lambie<\/span> and<\/span> David<\/span> Pocock,<\/span> along<\/span> with<\/span> the<\/span> Greens,<\/span> are<\/span> seeking<\/span> changes<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> Housing<\/span> Australia<\/span> Future<\/span> Fund.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Under<\/span> the<\/span> $10<\/span> billion<\/span> proposal,<\/span> up<\/span> to<\/span> $500<\/span> million<\/span> a<\/span> year<\/span> would<\/span> be<\/span> used<\/span> to<\/span> fund<\/span> the<\/span> construction<\/span> of<\/span> new<\/span> homes,<\/span> as<\/span> well<\/span> as<\/span> repair<\/span> and<\/span> improve<\/span> housing<\/span> for<\/span> Indigenous<\/span> communities.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>In<\/span> its<\/span> first<\/span> five<\/span> years,<\/span> the<\/span> government<\/span> expects<\/span> the<\/span> fund<\/span> to<\/span> pay<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> construction<\/span> of<\/span> 20,000<\/span> social<\/span> housing<\/span> properties.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Of<\/span> those,<\/span> 4,000<\/span> would<\/span> be<\/span> allocated<\/span> to<\/span> women<\/span> and<\/span> children<\/span> impacted<\/span> by<\/span> domestic<\/span> violence<\/span> as<\/span> well<\/span> as<\/span> older<\/span> women<\/span> at<\/span> risk<\/span> of<\/span> homelessness.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Another<\/span> 10,000<\/span> affordable<\/span> homes<\/span> for<\/span> frontline<\/span> workers<\/span> would<\/span> be<\/span> built<\/span> to<\/span> ensure<\/span> they<\/span> could<\/span> live<\/span> closer<\/span> to<\/span> where<\/span> they<\/span> work.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>He<\/span> pointed<\/span> to<\/span> figures<\/span> that<\/span> showed<\/span> the<\/span> ACT<\/span> social<\/span> housing<\/span> waitlist<\/span> had<\/span> passed<\/span> 3,000<\/span> across<\/span> the<\/span> territory<\/span> and<\/span> under<\/span> the<\/span> housing<\/span> fund<\/span> only<\/span> 540<\/span> new<\/span> homes<\/span> would<\/span> be<\/span> built<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> first<\/span> five<\/span> years<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“Given<\/span> the<\/span> scale<\/span> of<\/span> need<\/span> for<\/span> social<\/span> and<\/span> affordable<\/span> housing<\/span> across<\/span> the<\/span> country,<\/span> $500<\/span> million<\/span> a<\/span> year<\/span> is<\/span> not<\/span> going<\/span> to<\/span> cut<\/span> it,”<\/span> he<\/span> said.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“What<\/span> I’m<\/span> saying<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> government,<\/span> and<\/span> what<\/span> a<\/span> number<\/span> of<\/span> crossbenchers<\/span> are<\/span> saying,<\/span> is<\/span> this<\/span> is<\/span> a<\/span> good<\/span> start,<\/span> we<\/span> like<\/span> the<\/span> idea,<\/span> but<\/span> let’s<\/span> get<\/span> more<\/span> ambitious.”<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>He<\/span> said<\/span> negotiations<\/span> with<\/span> the<\/span> government<\/span> had<\/span> not<\/span> been<\/span> very<\/span> productive.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“We<\/span> will<\/span> continue<\/span> to<\/span> we<\/span> continue<\/span> to<\/span> talk<\/span> to<\/span> them,”<\/span> Senator<\/span> Pocock<\/span> said.<\/span> “So<\/span> far<\/span> it<\/span> hasn’t<\/span> been<\/span> that<\/span> positive,<\/span> but<\/span> I<\/span> really<\/span> hope<\/span> that<\/span> changes.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cThere<\/span> are<\/span> a<\/span> lot<\/span> of<\/span> people<\/span> all<\/span> over<\/span> the<\/span> country<\/span> who<\/span> are<\/span> going<\/span> through<\/span> a<\/span> hard<\/span> time.<\/span> You<\/span> see<\/span> frontline<\/span> workers<\/span> living<\/span> in<\/span> trailer<\/span> parks.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Prime<\/span> Minister<\/span> Anthony<\/span> Albanese<\/span> said<\/span> he<\/span> did<\/span> not<\/span> understand<\/span> why<\/span> he<\/span> would<\/span> vote<\/span> against<\/span> the<\/span> bill<\/span> ahead<\/span> of<\/span> Tuesday’s<\/span> Labor<\/span> caucuses.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> coalition<\/span> has<\/span> refused<\/span> to<\/span> support<\/span> the<\/span> bill,<\/span> so<\/span> the<\/span> government<\/span> needs<\/span> two<\/span> crossbenches<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> support<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Greens<\/span> to<\/span> pass<\/span> it.<\/span> Like<\/span> Senator<\/span> Pocock,<\/span> Senator<\/span> Lambie<\/span> wants<\/span> a<\/span> change<\/span> of<\/span> plans.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> bill<\/span> is<\/span> due<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> Senate<\/span> for<\/span> two<\/span> weeks,<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> government<\/span> hopes<\/span> he<\/span> will<\/span> pass<\/span> it<\/span> before<\/span> the<\/span> May<\/span> budget.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CANBERRA (Brussels Independent with AAP and ABC News) By Dr.Majid khan -The federal government is yet to secure enough support for its proposed multi-billion-dollar housing fund, with the crossbench arguing the plan does not go far enough to help Australians struggling to keep a roof over their head. The fund would spend $500 million a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[1566,280,1568,1766,9925],"tags":[2335,2336,2337,2338,2339,2340,2341,2342,2343,1569,2344,1570,2345,1573,2346,2331,2347,2332,2348,2333,2349,2334],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/564e612a985253bd53bf38c02baaa41c.jpg","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4985"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4985"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4999,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4985\/revisions\/4999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}