27th Jun 2024, 9:56 AM – Representatives Treasury Laws Amendment (Responsible Buy Now Pay Later and Other Measures) Bill 2024 - Report from Federation Chamber - Criticism of Government

The majority voted against an amendment to the usual second reading motion (which is "that the bill be read a second time" - parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill).

The amendment would have replaced the words of the usual second reading motion with those below, and so would have had the effect of rejecting the bill if it had been successful.

Amendment text

That all words after “House” be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

‘(1) notes that:

(a) the Government gives billions of dollars in tax handouts to property investors, driving up the price of housing and denying millions of renters the chance to buy a home;

(b) the Housing Australia Future Fund has not built a single home; and

(c) the median rent in Australia is now $621 and capital city rents have increased 9.5 per cent over the past year; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) freeze rent increases for two years followed by ongoing caps of 2 per cent every two years;

(b) phase out negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount; and

(c) establish a publicly-owned developer to build hundreds of thousands of good quality homes to be sold and rented at prices people can actually afford”.