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senate vote 2023-09-13#4
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2023-12-01 10:42:20
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Title
Bills — Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023, National Housing Supply and Affordability Council Bill 2023, Treasury Laws Amendment (Housing Measures No. 1) Bill 2023; Second Reading- Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023 and two others - Second Reading - Agree with bills' main idea
Description
<p class="speaker">Sue Lines</p><p>A second reading amendment was circulated by Senator Thorpe, but, as she is not here, someone would need to seek leave to move it on her behalf.</p>-
- The majority voted in favour of a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2023-09-13.22.18) to read the bills for a second time. In other words, they agreed with the main idea of the bills and so can now consider them in more detail.
- ### What do the bills do?
- According to the [bills digest](https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd2223a/23bd059) (which is prepared by the parliamentary library):
- * *The Housing Australia Future Fund is created by the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023 (HAFF Bill). It is proposed to be structured, governed, and administered in a similar way to other Investment Funds. The financing will be administered using two Special Accounts.*
- * *The National Housing Supply and Affordability Council is created by the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council Bill 2023 (Council Bill). The proposed structure, governance, and administrative arrangement are like other Australian Government Councils.*
- * *The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHIFC) is to be renamed Housing Australia by amendments proposed in the Treasury Laws Amendment (Housing Measures No. 1) Bill 2023 (Amendment Bill). The Amendment Bill also extends a Commonwealth guarantee 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 other Commonwealth Acts.*
- * *Issues with the Housing Australia Future Fund and associated Bills are likely to be few. However, there may be policy issues which need to be considered including: the proliferation of investment funds and alternative financing approaches, the potential effectiveness of the scale of the expenditures compared to the social housing challenge, the location of new housing investments, the selection of Council members, and the transparency of the Council in delivering its functions.*
<p class="speaker">David Pocock</p><p>by leave—I move Senator Thorpe's second reading amendment on sheet 1871:</p><p class="italic">At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate calls on the Government to commence urgent negotiations with state and territory governments in relation to the implementation of the following reforms:</p><p class="italic">(a) a moratorium on no grounds evictions for tenants who cannot pay rent;</p><p class="italic">(b) the expansion of culturally safe tenancy support programs for First Nations people in all states and territories, modelled on Aboriginal Housing Victoria's 'More Than A Landlord' program;</p><p class="italic">(c) a moratorium on the sale of public housing;</p><p class="italic">(d) a moratorium on the sale of Crown land until a Treaty with First Nations people has been negotiated;</p><p class="italic">(e) universal access to public housing, over the long term, through buyback schemes and building of quality public housing;</p><p class="italic">(f) establishing a mechanism to support democratically controlled co-operative housing, including direct funding to assist people in acquiring or building housing under a co-operative model;</p><p class="italic">(g) establishing a co-investment scheme for community housing tenants to have the option of taking over ownership, possibly through a co-operative housing scheme, with the aim of converting community housing to supported co- operative housing, and giving tenants the option to select an alternative;</p><p class="italic">(h) building the capacity of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Housing sector, in line with Closing the Gap Priority Reform 2 and in partnership with First Nations communities, to ensure housing remains at a high standard, including through:</p><p class="italic">(i) the implementation of training and employment programs, and</p><p class="italic">(ii) the funding of ongoing maintenance;</p><p class="italic">(i) developing a specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing schedule of works, overseen by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association, to track, monitor and evaluate the impacts and outcome of investments in First Nations housing;</p><p class="italic">(j) developing cultural principles to be embedded within all government housing frameworks and plans and enacted by governments and housing providers; and</p><p class="italic">(k) the monitoring and evaluation of adherence to cultural principles by governments and housing providers".</p><p>Question negatived.</p> <p class="speaker">Sue Lines</p><p>The question is that the second reading be agreed to.</p><p></p> -
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