Greens welcome bold CFMEU plan to fix housing crisis with corporate super profits
The Australian Greens have welcomed the CFMEU’s plan to tax super profits and invest the proceeds into homes, saying the calls are part of a growing recognition that the housing crisis will get worse under Labor’s Housing Australia Future Fund.
The Greens went to the last election with a plan to tax the super profits of corporations with more than $100 million in revenue at a rate of 40%. Part of a suite of super tax reforms, it would have raised hundreds of billions over the decade to invest in housing, raising income supports and putting dental and mental health into Medicare. The corporate super profits component, independently costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office prior to the election, would have raised $53 billion over three years, similar to the CFMEU’s proposal.
The Greens say that the announcement demonstrates that there is appetite for a significant housing build, including support from the people who would be charged with undertaking such an important nation building project.
The report commissioned by the CFMEU has found that shortage of social and affordable housing is now 750,700 social and affordable dwellings, and that shortage will increase under Labor’s Housing Australia Future Fund.
Lines from Greens Housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather MP:
“From the unions, to economists, homelessness support services, and the construction industry, everyone is now telling Labor that it needs to do more to fix the housing crisis,” Mr Chandler-Mather said.
The CFMEU’s report is clear, the housing crisis will get worse under Labor’s Housing Australia Future Fund, unless they invest far more in public and affordable housing, which is exactly what everyone from the Greens to the CFMEU are now pushing for.
Today’s announcement should put the Greens compromise offer to pass the HAFF if Labor agrees to $2.5 billion a year for public and affordable housing and commits $1 billion for a rent freeze, in context.
“This bold plan from the CFMEU is a brilliant example of the scale and ambition that we need to deal with the rapidly worsening housing crisis. Labor should listen to the union, the Greens and housing experts and produce a plan that will actually start to tackle the scale of the crisis.
“Renters want to have high quality, public housing close to where they work and currently live. The construction industry wants to get going on a significant national build, and construction workers are pushing for the Labor to pull its finger out.
“Now, the only person standing in the way of a massive housing build is the Prime Minister.
“The Greens took a super profits tax to the last election that would have found billions of dollars to invest in public and affordable housing and we welcome the CFMEU’s policy announcement today.
“From the hundreds of billions of dollars of corporate super profits, to the quarter of a trillion dollars in Stage 3 Tax Cuts, and the $12 billion in annual tax concessions for property investors - the money is there.