Green senator Sarah Hanson-Young has accused Anthony Albanese of being “bullish” after he threatened to dissolve both houses of parliament in an early election.
The Prime Minister made the threat after the government’s Help to Buy Bill failed to pass the Senate on Tuesday, with both the Greens and the Coalition voting against it.
Senator Hanson-Young said on Wednesday the Greens wanted to “to work with the government to actually make this a policy that works for people”.
“This Bill doesn’t deal with the real crises,” she told the ABC.
“We want to work with the government to do that. We have given the government an extra two months to negotiate with us on this piece of legislation.”
Help to Buy would allow first-home buyers to purchase a property in a shared equity scheme.
Under the proposal, the government would foot the cost of up to 40 per cent of a new dwelling.
It is a policy the Greens have run with, but they say the Albanese government’s plan would not go far enough and have called for negotiations.
New polling suggests the housing crisis could cost Victoria Labor another term in government. According to the Redbridge data, 30 per cent of Victorians would vote for Labor – while 40 per cent are backing the Coalition. 13 per cent are supporting the Greens, and 17 per cent are picking a different candidate. Almost 70 per cent of respondents say the state government is not doing enough to make housing cheaper. This is despite Labor promising to create 80,000 new homes every year for a decade.
“Why be so bullish about this?” Senator Hanson-Young said.
“The Australian people don’t need a panicked prime minister who wants to press the exit button because he can’t get his own way.
“They want a government that’s willing to work across the parliament.”
She said Australians expected a functional parliament, which “requires more than just bulldozing your way through”.
More to come