Politics with Michelle Grattan: Adam Bandt on why the Greens are playing hardball on housing

Politics with Michelle Grattan

Mick Tsikas/AAP

The government has found many of its key measures stuck in a legislative quagmire, with both Greens and Coalition playing hardball with Labor’s plans.

This week the government’s housing legislation has stalled in the Senate. The Greens are pitching for radically expanded initiatives such as scrapping negative gearing and support for controlling rent rises.

Greens leader Adam Bandt joins us to talk about the immediate impasse as well as his party’s broad agenda including its demands if Labor fell into minority at the election.

On why the Greens are holding up the government’s housing bills, Bandt says:

Labor has refused to put any offers on the table. At the moment, Labor’s just tinkering around the edges of a fundamentally broken system, offering bandaid answers that won’t fix the housing and rental crisis. We know what is driving the housing and rental crisis. It’s unlimited rent increases that are pushing people to the brink.

Let’s use this parliament to seriously tackle the housing and rental crisis. When the previous housing legislation came for the Housing Australia Future Fund we pushed the government and got $3 billion of extra money to go to new public and community housing – and we’re pushing the government again to say stop tinkering around the edges.

Asked the Greens’ solution to the labour shortage that’s inhibiting how many houses can be built, Bandt advocates much increased government investment:

Let’s train people through big government investment in the construction of public housing like governments used to do.

This is something that we need to get on with. And I guess if the government’s saying that there’s going to be a labour shortage, then that’s the government admitting that they’re never going to be able to build homes in the future. We need a different approach. And if the government needs to invest in that need, including in training, then the government should.

On the government’s proposed ban on children joining social media sites, Bandt argues such a course would be counterproductive:

We understand the concern, and I’ve got two primary school-aged kids, and this is something that I think many parents are having to navigate. […] A ban based on age might close the door – if it works – to some people getting onto social media. But it doesn’t change what happens when you open the door and get onto social media itself. We would much rather set an approach that says let’s change the rules by which these tech giants operate. Let’s regulate what happens on social media much better so it’s a safer place.

The experts are lining up to say [it’s] much better to change what happens online rather than ban people from it until they reach a certain age, because then they’re going to have to navigate it when they get there. And if the surf is rough […] you teach children how to swim and so that they can look after themselves and you do it in a staged and managed way.

On Gaza, Bandt argues the government should be taking more action against Israel and defends the Greens’ presence at the recent demonstration outside a defence expo in Melbourne,

Australia could be putting pressure on the extremist Netanyahu government to comply with international law, at a bare minimum. Australia is party to these conventions like the Convention Against Genocide and the way that this international law works is that when one party sees another one committing a war crime, they’re obliged to take action.

Australia could put sanctions on the members of the war cabinet and Australia could join in recognising Palestine. Australia could join some of these cases around the world like other countries are doing.

I support [Senator David Shoebridge] addressing those peaceful protests that were taking place. Victoria Police said that the protests were predominantly peaceful. [… ]A number of civil liberties groups have said that the police reaction and that the policing that was seen there not only demands an independent inquiry, but was more forceful than they have seen before. Of course, we do not support that violence happening anywhere, whether it’s at a protest or whether it’s somewhere else.

If Labor falls into minority at the election, what would the Greens want in order to give a guarantee on supply and confidence?

We want the big corporations to pay their fair share of tax and use that money to ensure that everyone in this country has what they need to live a good life, by doing things like getting dental into Medicare, funding a rent freeze and rent caps across the country, wiping student debt and making childcare free.

One in three big corporations in this country pays no tax at all, and when a nurse pays more tax than a multinational, something is seriously wrong. We will be pushing the next government to make the big corporations pay their fair share of tax.

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.