14th Sep 2023, 12:01 PM – Representatives Treasury Laws Amendment (Housing Measures No. 1) Bill 2023 - Consideration of Senate Message - Agree with Senate amendment

The majority voted in favour of a motion to agree with the Senate's amendment. This means that the final form of the bill has now been agreed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate and so will now become law.

There was one rebel voter, with Bass MP Bridget Archer (Liberal) crossing the floor to vote "Yes" against the rest of her party.

What does this amendment do?

According to the relevant explanatory memorandum:

The amendment enables the Minister to make directions in the NHFIC IM [National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation Investment Mandate Direction 2018] to specifically exclude certain types of liabilities or loans from the application of section 48 of the NHFIC Act [National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation Act 2018]. The intention is to enable the exclusion, where appropriate, of liabilities or loans arising from the Housing Australia Future Fund and other housing programs from the application of section 48. This will allow the NHFIC [National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation] to administer housing programs which involve entering into long-term payment obligations and where the funding for those programs is appropriated by government.

The amendment inserts a new item 12A into Schedule 2 of the Amendment Bill. The amendment adds a new subsection to section 48 clarifying that the NHFIC IM may include a direction that the Board must exclude certain types of liabilities or loans when it considers whether the NHFIC has sufficient capital and reserves. In effect, this will allow the NHFIC to administer programs involving these specific types of liabilities and loans, and not be required to hold capital and reserves against those exposures.

What does the bill do?

According to the bills digest (which is prepared by the parliamentary library):

The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) is to be renamed Housing Australia by amendments proposed in the Treasury Laws Amendment (Housing Measures No. 1) Bill 2023 (the Amendment Bill). The Amendment Bill also extends the Commonwealth guarantee currently held for the NHFIC from 1 July 2023 to 1 July 2028. In addition, a series of consequential amendments are made to reflect this name change across 2 other Commonwealth Acts and to 8 further Acts to assist in the operation of the HAFF [Housing Australia Future Fund].