A fenced-off site at 600 Elizabeth Street, Redfern, is vacant public land that was previously 100% public housing. Now the Liberal-National government wants to sell it to its property developer mates.
A growing campaign has collected nearly 1000 signatures on a petition demanding 100% public housing on any redevelopment of this site.
A rally, with a free barbecue聽provided by the Maritime Union of Australia and Shelter New South Wales in collaboration with Action for Public Housing, was held on the site on April 2.
Geoff Turnbull, from REDWatch introduced several powerful speeches by John Engeler from Shelter NSW, Karyn Brown from Waterloo Public Housing Action Group, Denis Doherty from Hands off Glebe, Barney Gardner from Save Millers Point, Green's MP for Newtown Jenny Leong and Rachel Evans, Socialist Alliance candidate for the Senate in NSW.
Engeler said that more public housing was needed to solve the housing crisis. 鈥淓ven in our movement, people confuse the terms 鈥榮ocial housing鈥, 鈥榗ommunity housing鈥 and 鈥榓ffordable housing鈥. But what we need is more public housing.鈥
Leong told 91自拍论坛 that the government was deploying 鈥渁n outrageous spin鈥 around the future of this site. 鈥淭hey are calling it 鈥楤uild To Sell鈥. In anyone else鈥檚 language that is privatisation.
鈥淭here is a huge housing crisis but instead of the state government using this site to provide more public and social housing, they are flogging off this land.鈥
Leong told the rally that 鈥渢aking the profit out of housing was the only solution to the housing crisis鈥. 鈥淭his state government has only one interest 鈥 to privatise public housing land so their developer mates can make more money.鈥
Evans told 骋尝听鈥渢he government wants to allow developers to build 300 homes here with only a slither of these to be 鈥榮ocial housing鈥 鈥 But we are demanding 100% public housing鈥. Redfern has been the site of many battles for public housing, she added. 鈥淎boriginal housing was fought for and won, with the help of trade union green bans in the 1970s ... and we are fighting to win again here.鈥
Video:聽Stop the privatisation of land public housing land! -聽.