Housing activists and MPs gathered on the steps of Victorian Parliament on June 1 to campaign for public housing.
The Retain 鈥斅燫epair 鈥斅燫einvest rally was organised by Margaret Kelly, a resident of Barak Beacon Estate, and (PHEB).
Victorian Greens leader and housing spokesperson Samantha Ratnam and PHEB convener Joe Toscano called on people to pressure Daniel Andrews鈥 government to abandon its Big Housing Build agenda which is being rolled out through Homes Victoria.
鈥淗omes Victoria鈥檚 business plan is responsible for masses of public housing stock being sold off to property developers,鈥 Toscano said.
This is what鈥檚 happening at the Barak Beacon Housing Estate, where a meagre supply of social housing 鈥 intermixed with private housing 鈥 is being proposed in place of existing public housing.
Margaret Kelly, a resident of Barak Beacon Housing Estate, criticised housing minister Colin Brooks for not having seriously engaged with the .
This is being offered as an alternative to the government鈥檚 pro-developer Big Housing Build and aims to substantially increase the public housing stock for 100,000 Victorians each year.
Kelly spoke about the distinction between public housing 鈥 which is publicly owned and managed 鈥 and other types of housing such as 鈥渟ocial鈥, 鈥渃ommunity鈥, 鈥渋nclusive鈥 and 鈥渁ffordable鈥.
The variety that is not public housing is often privately owned and managed, and involves a profit motive. The conflation of these categories has been used to camouflage government moves to privatise public housing.
Kelly, who has received a notice to vacate, concluded the rally by requesting a meeting with Brooks.
The rally called for laws to cap the number of properties that can be negatively geared to dissuade property developers.
Speakers noted how the privatisation of public housing and land is tied to the degradation of other essential services, such as utilities and aged care.
[Weekly vigils will be held on the steps of the Victorian Parliament every .]