Senate voted down Bragg's bid to keep housing fund from Cbus
Senator Andrew Bragg wanted to stop a government housing fund putting money into homes for people on low incomes that Cbus also backs. Cbus is the super fund for building workers. A super fund holds money people save for when they stop working. The Senate voted the bill down in March 2026.
Official name: Housing Investment Probity Bill 2024
- The bill would have banned the Housing Australia Future Fund, a government fund that helps pay for low-cost homes, from investing in low-cost housing that Cbus has put money into, or will.
- The ban would only apply while the building workers' union, or any part of it, is run by an outside manager.
- Senator Bragg says Cbus's links to that union put taxpayers' money at risk.
- The Senate voted against it on 26 March 2026, so it will not become law.
Who it affects
- The Housing Australia Future Fund: It could not have made new investments in low-cost housing that Cbus also backs, while the union is run by an outside manager.
- Cbus Super and its members: Housing projects Cbus backs would have been cut off from new money from the government housing fund.
- Builders and groups running social and affordable housing projects: A project with Cbus money in it could not have also got new money from the housing fund during that time.
- Existing investments: Investments made before the ban, or while the union was not run by an outside manager, would not have been touched.
Housing fund money and Cbus
The Housing Australia Future Fund is a pot of government money set up in 2023. The money is invested. The profits help pay for social and affordable housing. These are homes rented to people on lower incomes at a price they can manage.
The Future Fund Board invests the fund's money. It is the body that manages several big government investment funds. A law called the Housing Australia Future Fund Act 2023 sets out what it can invest in.
Cbus is a big super fund for people in building and construction. Super is money saved for when you stop working. Cbus's full name is the Construction and Building Unions Superannuation Fund.
Senator Bragg wrote notes that explain the bill. They say Cbus is formally linked to the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union. This article calls it the building union. The notes say the union has three members on the Cbus board.
Why the senator brought it
The notes point to claims of thuggery, organised crime and corruption in the building union. They say nobody acted to remove the union-linked members of the Cbus board.
They refer to a report in the Australian Financial Review newspaper. It was about an official from the union's New South Wales branch. The report said he claimed he could use his pull at Cbus to steer building contracts.
The notes also mention the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. It is the watchdog for banks and super funds. On 14 August 2024, it ordered Cbus to get an outside review. The review would check if its union-linked board members were fit to stay.
Senator Bragg says the union's work deals push up building costs. He quotes a 30% figure from groups including the Real Estate Institute of Queensland, a group for real estate agents. He says this makes new homes slower and dearer to build.
Who brought the bill
This was a private bill. That means it did not come from the government. Senator Andrew Bragg put it to the Senate on 21 August 2024. The Senate is one of the two houses of Parliament.
Ban on investing with Cbus
The bill would have added a new limit to the law that says what the housing fund can invest in. The Future Fund Board could not make an investment if three things were true.
First, the investment is in social or affordable housing. Second, Cbus has put money, or will put money, into the same thing. Third, it happens during a banned time.
A banned time is any time the building union, or any branch or part of it, is under administration. That means an outside person has been put in charge of running the union.
The ban would still follow the union and Cbus if either one changed its name.
Say Cbus puts money into a new block of low-cost flats. While the union is run by an outside manager, the housing fund could not put new money into the same block.
What would not change
The ban would only cover new investments made after the bill became law. Investments made earlier would stay as they were. So would those made while the union was not run by an outside manager.
The notes say the aim was that no housing fund money would flow to Cbus, or to housing projects Cbus pays for.
Planned start
The bill would have started the day after the Governor-General signed it into law. The Governor-General is the King's stand-in in Australia.
Voted down in the Senate
Senator Bragg put the bill to the Senate on 21 August 2024. That day he asked for a vote on its main idea.
It died when that Parliament ended on 21 July 2025. It was put back on the Senate's to-do list on 23 July 2025. Debate started again the next day.
The Senate debated it on 24 July 2025, 30 July 2025 and 26 March 2026. On 26 March 2026, the Senate voted against its main idea. The bill failed and will not become law.
How they voted
| Vote | Result |
|---|---|
| Vote on the main idea Senate, 26 March 2026 Labor 24 no, Liberal 19 aye, Greens 10 no, One Nation 3 aye, Independent 1 aye, 1 no, LNP 1 aye, Country Liberal 1 aye, Nationals 1 aye, Australia's Voice 1 no | Noes won 36 to 26 |
Its journey through Parliament
| 21 Aug 2024 | Senate: Introduced and read a first time |
| 21 Aug 2024 | Senate: Second reading moved |
| 21 Jul 2025 | Senate: Lapsed at end of Parliament |
| 23 Jul 2025 | Senate: Restored to Notice Paper |
| 24 Jul 2025 | Senate: Second reading moved |
| 24 Jul 2025 | Senate: Second reading debate |
| 30 Jul 2025 | Senate: Second reading debate |
| 26 Mar 2026 | Senate: Second reading debate |
| 26 Mar 2026 | Senate: Second reading negatived |