21/03/2023

Renters will punish the government for leaving them to bear the brunt of the cost of living crisis, Max Chandler-Mather has warned, as the Greens continue negotiations with the government on the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill.

The Greens have launched a doorknocking and campaigning blitz with over 400 volunteers across the country, targeting Labor-held seats in Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, ACT and Western Australia, making it clear to Labor there will be severe electoral consequences if they fail to tackle the housing crisis and give real relief to renters. This is part of a broader strategy to put pressure on Labor in negotiations on the Housing Australia Future Fund bill.

In Queensland, the Greens have been doorknocking in the Labor-held seats of Moreton, Lilley and Blair, drawing on the extensive ground campaigning machine the Queensland party built to pull off Max Chandler-Mather’s historic win against Labor party rising star Terri Butler, and gain the seats of Ryan and Brisbane. The Greens have already sent mail to every Labor seat in Queensland, and commenced a digital campaign across social media platforms highlighting how Labor has no plans for renters.

The Greens are targeting renter hotspots in the electorates of Lilley, Moreton and Blair, doorknocking with hundreds of volunteers in the suburbs of Nundah (55% renters), Moorooka (41% renters) and Ipswich (55% renters) to speak to voters left behind by Labor’s lack of action on the housing crisis. The Greens have also been doorknocking in Wills, Fremantle, Canberra, and Franklin.

The Greens have proposed a national freeze on rent increases and interest rates and a doubling of Commonwealth Rent Assistance, as well as a guaranteed funding of $5 billion a year for public, community and affordable housing, as part of ongoing negotiations on the Housing Bill.

Lines attributable to Max Chandler-Mather MP, Greens spokesperson for housing and homeslessness:

We’ve been knocking on thousands of doors chatting with people who are copping massive rent and mortgage hikes, asking them what they think about the fact Labor wants to spend $368 billion on nuclear subs, but can’t find an extra cent for renters or invest even $5 billion in public and affordable housing.

The message for Labor should be very clear, what happened in Griffith will happen in electorates across the country, unless they agree to work with the Greens to take real action to tackle the housing crisis that includes direct investment in public and affordable housing, and national rent caps.

The feedback from over 80% of the conversations we had across the country was crystal clear: The Greens should not support Labor’s plan that does nothing for renters, and will make the crisis worse, until Labor is willing to make substantial changes that include direct investment in more public housing and a national plan for renters.

People were shocked to hear that with the shortage of social and affordable housing projected to grow by 75,000 to 715,000 homes in the next five years, Labor only planned to build 30,000 homes at the most, depending on the success of their gamble on the stock market.

The vast majority of people don’t want Labor to gamble $10 billion of public money on the stock market, what they want is billions of dollars invested directly in building public and affordable housing, and a national plan for renters that includes caps on rents.

We spoke to lifelong Labor voters willing to sign our petition calling on Labor to accept the Greens demands to invest $5 billion in public and affordable housing, we spoke to single mums already contemplating homelessness because they couldn’t afford any more rent increases, we spoke to thousands of people all insisting that the Greens refuse to pass Labor’s bill until they agree to the Greens demands.

There are a lot of people out in the community angry that Labor can find $368 billion to spend on nuclear attack submarines, but can’t find a single extra cent to spend directly on public and affordable housing.

We mobilised hundreds of volunteers in under a week to knock on thousands of doors in Labor electorates across the country, and we will do that again and again until Labor works with the Greens to tackle the housing crisis.