The federal government is pleading for crossbench support for its social housing fund, arguing rising homelessness levels require urgent action.
Opposition is mounting to the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, which risks defeat in the Senate unless its ambitions are ratcheted up in line with crossbencher demands.
The Greens and independent senators David Pocock and Lidia Thorpe have outlined their concerns about the bill in dissenting reports to a Senate inquiry, with the Greens labelling it “not fit for purpose.”
But Housing Minister Julie Collins pointed to Census data showing 123,000 Australians were homeless in 2021, with a quarter of them young people aged 13 to 24 and a huge spike among women….