Anthony Albanese has clashed again with young Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather as the national housing crisis returns to the political conversation.
The Prime Minister was teamed up with Agriculture Minister Murray Watt. to defeat the Greens amid a war of words over the government’s proposed “Help to Buy” legislation.
As Albanese and Greens housing spokesperson Chandler-Mather reignited their long-running dispute in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Watt reminded Australians of the party’s hypocrisy in the Senate.
“I’m not surprised that Mr Dutton and the Coalition have said no to this programme, because that’s what they always say,” he said.
“But I was surprised to see the Greens once again say no to helping Australians buy their own home, especially when so many have relied on taxpayers’ help to buy their own homes.”
Anthony Albanese has clashed again with young Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather (circled) as the national housing crisis returns to the political conversation.
His comments drew immediate interjections, but he then singled out both Senator Nick McKim and Senator Mehreen Faruqi, stating that they “each own four houses.”
“Or Senator Allman-Payne, who owns two houses,” he added.
“Labor wants to help young Australians buy just one home”.
Mr McKim responded by saying: “That’s not true, that’s a lie.”
‘That is a lie. Be honest and truthful,” he said, pointing his finger at Mr. Watt.
Daily Mail Australia understands McKim, who is also the party’s leader, owns three properties in his home state of Tasmania.
One is understood to be a “shack”, along with a property in Nubeena, southwest of Hobart, and another house in New Norfolk, northwest of Hobart.
The Tasmanian senator clarified in May 2023 that he was only renting one of the properties.
“There have been some pretty wild opinions about this, so for clarity, my partner and I only have one rental property,” he said.
‘Our tenant is a disabled family member who would otherwise likely be left homeless due to the abject failure of the main parties to address the tenancy crisis.
‘We recognize the privilege that allows us to do this and feel comfortable with our decision to provide a safe, affordable home to someone close to us who desperately needed one. And yes, the rent is frozen.
He also clarified that the other house listed as an “investment” was agricultural land: “a meadow that we are rebuilding.”
Ms Faruqi seemed less outraged by Mr Watt’s accusations.
Faruqi owns, with her husband Omar Faruqi, a terrace in Beaconsfield in Sydney’s southern hinterland, a residential house in the same area and a house in Port Macquarie on the mid-north coast of New South Wales.
It also exclusively owns a 500 square meter land in Lahore, Pakistan.
Labor has been singling out Green politicians who oppose the proposed ‘Help to Buy’ legislation but own several properties. Senator Nick McKim (pictured) exploded when accused of owning ‘four houses’; He previously said that he owns three homes and that his only tenant is a “disabled family member” whose rent is “frozen.”
Queensland Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne rents a four-bedroom house in Cleveland, east of Brisbane, and has another property, her main residence, in Gladstone.
But the party’s housing spokesman, Mr Chandler-Mather, is a renter and, like so many other young people, has also struggled to get into the property market.
On Tuesday he grilled the Prime Minister on the government’s response to the Reserve Bank review.
“The Greens have opposed the government’s proposal to remove its power to protect tenants and mortgage holders against unreasonable increases in interest rates,” he said.
‘Former Prime Minister Keating and two former RBA governors have publicly agreed with us that big policy decisions, such as interest rate increases, require political responsibility.
“Will he admit that his government was wrong to try to give up its power to overturn unreasonable interest rate increases and back the Greens’ change in the bill?”
The question prompted an immediate rebuke from Mr. Albanese.
He said: ‘The surprising thing here is not that the Greens political party has that position; is that some members of the Liberal Party are saying they will support him on that too.
‘Senator McKim has demonstrated through his sideline attacks that he knows nothing about how the RBA works and that he does not understand the review.
‘This just shows that this is about political posturing and opportunism. If you want to side with the Greens, you can use it.
“We expect economic irresponsibility from them, but we expect a little better from the main political parties.”