Hundreds marched from Flemington public housing towers to North Melbourne public housing on October 19 to oppose Victorian Labor鈥檚 plans to demolish 44 public housing towers and privatise the new developments.
The Flemington and North Melbourne towers will be the first demolished, to be replaced by private and social housing.
Residents were shocked by the demolition announcement 12 months ago. No justification was given and no solutions for residents have been provided. They聽formed the Save Public Housing group, which is determined to stop the government plan.聽
The rally was MCed by Greens MPs Ellen Sandell and Gabrielle de Vietri and heard from several public housing residents and campaigners.聽
Renters and Housing Union spokesperson Harry Millward criticised Labor for not building public housing and said the demolition will hand profits to private developers.
鈥淧rivate developers are controlling the market and people are living in rental stress,鈥 Harry said. 鈥淭here is far more demand than supply and these plans will do nothing to fix the problem.鈥
Not-for-profit architecture and research firm OFFICE recently released a debunking Labor鈥檚 claims that knocking down and rebuilding the towers is the only option.
The Inquiry into the Public Housing Renewal Program report said it is important to note the distinction between public housing and social housing, the latter being an umbrella term which includes community and affordable housing.
鈥淭he government is using the social housing mix argument to justify its sale of public housing land,鈥 it said. 鈥淒evelopers should not be developing our social housing policy and dwelling mix鈥
鈥淭he government would not need to sell the public housing land to private developers if it increased the amount it was willing to invest in maintaining and building new public housing.鈥澛
Greens MLC Samantha Ratnam pledged to protect the community from privatisation and stop the demolition of public housing towers.
鈥淭he Daniel Andrew鈥檚 swansong housing plan is continuing what the ALP have done to low rise public housing and continuing the biggest privatisation of public housing ever seen in Victoria,鈥 she said.
Labor is following the Margaret Thatcher playbook to demolish public housing, by running down homes and then claiming they are unsafe and cost too much to restore, Ratnam said.
Jordan聽van den Lamb, housing activist and Victorian Socialists candidate, described the demolition plans as an economic, moral and social catastrophe.聽鈥淭his plan takes land that belongs to the people and gives it to corporations and won鈥檛 solve the housing crisis.鈥
Beza, a resident of the towers, told her story of coming from Africa to Australia when she was 12 years old. She worked as a nurse before she needed public housing after becoming a single mum.
鈥淧ublic housing saved my life,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t gave me support and a community and with the community garden for my son and myself and the community hub, it means I am not isolated.鈥
Margaret Kelly and Jeannie Erceg, residents of the previously demolished Barak Beacon Estate聽in Port Melbourne, spoke about their fight to save their homes.
With more than 120,000 on the public housing waiting list and 30,000聽people homeless in Victoria, gifting public land to developers is not a solution.