Greens leader Adam Bandt has attacked Anthony Albanese after he promised to halve immigration in a bid to ease the housing crisis.
More than 510,000 migrants moved to Australia in the last financial year and Labor aims to halve this figure by June 2025.
The housing crisis was discussed at Question Time on Wednesday, during which Mr Albanese was questioned about why so many migrants were allowed in.
The prime minister said several measures had been put in place to reduce immigration, including limits on international students.
“On Question Time, the Prime Minister boasts that Labor will reduce immigration more than the Coalition,” Bandt wrote on social media.
“What a disgusting race to the bottom, so offensive to immigrants, by the Labour Party and the Liberals!”
Many Australians on social media disagreed with the Greens leader and questioned how housing could become more affordable if the population only increased.
“This is not about attacking migrants, it is a sensible move to help those of us who are struggling to find accommodation and gives Australians a fair chance of having a health system capable of coping without putting undue pressure and stress on nurses and allied health professionals,” one said.
Greens leader Adam Bandt has attacked Anthony Albanese after he promised to halve immigration in a bid to ease the housing crisis.
“And at the same time, you rightly complain about the housing crisis. This is a way to help solve the problem,” added another.
“And you want Australians to be on the streets?” asked a third.
“You have called for a rent freeze on multiple occasions, and the reason rents keep going up is because there is more and more demand for rental properties due to the number of people coming into the country,” added a fourth.
‘Something that can be solved over time by reducing the number of people arriving, which will translate into lower rents and eventually we will catch up in terms of housing with population growth.
“And yet you are 100 percent oblivious to this, choosing instead to virtue signal to the sycophants who follow you.”
“Out of curiosity, how else do you think we can quickly address the massive housing supply crisis facing most Australians?” wrote another.
The Greens leader has called for action to be taken on the housing crisis but has spoken out against Labour’s efforts to reduce immigration.
A day earlier, Bandt had written on social media that “the housing crisis cannot wait” and that the government needed to crack down on property investors.
He said the Greens had tabled a motion to “end massive tax breaks for wealthy property investors”, which was rejected by both the Labor and Liberal parties.
The capital gains tax credit means that if a person buys a house and sells it after a year, they only need to pay taxes on half of the profits made.
“Labour is happy to leave renters destitute while making it easier for investors to buy their fourth home,” he wrote.
“When a prime minister is a property investor and 75 per cent of MPs are property owners, you can understand why. Something has to change and it’s not going to be the Labour Party.
“If Labour were serious about tackling the housing crisis, it would stop tinkering and scrap tax breaks for wealthy property investors.
Mr Albanese said several measures had been put in place to reduce immigration, including imposing limits on international students.
“They would make it easier to buy your first home, but they won’t.”
During Question Time, Mr Albanese said Labor had inherited a “mess” from the Coalition on immigration.
“What we have done is restore compliance with immigration rules that the opposition leader reduced by almost 50 percent,” he said.
‘We have raised the threshold for skilled temporary migration to $70,000, ended the pandemic visa, cracked down on international education scams, implemented a $160 million reform package, and imposed no more stay conditions on visitor visas.
‘We are ending immigration system arrangements that forced temporary visa holders to stay long-term and have introduced limits on the number of international students.
“We are taking action, in contrast to the chaos we have inherited from those on the other side.”