Anthony Albanese has firmly rejected a Greens plan for rent caps as the government looks for other ways to make housing more affordable and available.
The prime minister doubled down on his call for the party to back Labor’s $10 billion housing plan.
“The truth is that every single state and territory leader has said that they do not support a rent freeze,” Mr Albanese told parliament on Thursday.
“And in the ACT, the only jurisdiction in which there is the measure that the member referred to, it is for inflation plus 10 per cent and that is over just a one -year period.”
He said if rent caps were introduced, under the Greens’ opportunistic plan, landlords would jack up prices in anticipation of rates being locked in.
“Get on with the program, vote for social housing,” Mr Albanese said.
The Greens and coalition teamed up in the Senate to defer debate on the government’s $10b Housing Australia Future Fund legislation until October.
The minor party, which holds the balance of power, wants a national rent freeze and better-directed funding for social and affordable housing.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers will meet state and territory treasurers on Friday to discuss work on the national housing accord, a landmark agreement to address supply and affordability.
But Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said the accord was a con.
“The Labor Party of Gough Whitlam would take this housing crisis seriously but it’s very clear that this is no longer the party of Whitlam,” he told reporters.
“This is the party of property investors, landlords and banks.”
The accord aims to deliver one million homes across five years from 2024.
Dr Chalmers said beyond the future fund, the government was rolling out the biggest increase in rent assistance in three decades and tax breaks for build-to-rent properties.
“We would prefer the support of the Greens in order to do that but in the absence of that support, with all of their political posturing and product differentiation, we will do what we can without them,” he said.
Greens leader Adam Bandt said his party forced the government to stump up a further $2b for social housing last weekend.
The Senate agreed on Thursday to set up an inquiry into the rental crisis, which would provide an interim report by September 23 and a final report on November 28.
The inquiry will look at the experience of renters and people seeking rental housing, possible actions to be taken by governments and factors impacting supply and affordability.
By Poppy Johnston and Tess Ikonomou in Canberra
