Australian prime minister raises prospect of early election over housing impasse

FILE PHOTO: Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attends a meeting of the North Atlantic Council during a NATO leaders summit in Vilnius, Lithuania July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia could go to an election more than a year ahead of schedule as opposition parties threaten to block a flagship housing bill for a second time, providing the government with the constitutional trigger for an early election.

The parliamentary deadlock revolves around the centre-left Labor government's A$10 billion ($6.7 billion) housing package, which The Greens party is refusing to pass through the upper house without changes to increase spending and cap rents.