PRESS RELEASE: Housing activists call on unions to help end demolitions of public housing
National Petition to Unions Launched
A coalition of grassroots housing groups have launched a national petition calling on unions to help ‘Fix the Housing Crisis’ and support community led green bans to defend and extend public housing.
Various housing justice groups such as: House You; National Housing Justice Campaign; Save Public Housing Victoria; Action for Public Housing NSW, Lismore Housing Justice Collective; Anti-Poverty Network South Australia and Housing Matters Bass Coast, are calling on relevant unions in construction, electrical, plumbing, and the public sector to enact community-led green bans, refuse to demolish public housing and defend public housing tenants against evictions.
Rachel Evans, a National Housing Justice Campaign spokesperson and Action for Public Housing activist said, ‘in Gadi/Sydney we are suffering a median rent from around $745 per week and the national median rent has increased to $601 per week, up from $437 per week in August 2020. This crisis is set to get even worse for renters,” said Evans. We’ve seen a massive increase in homelessness, with 277 people suffering homelessness every night, while 2,568 dwellings lie empty every night in the City of Sydney”, Evans explained.
“Instead of building more public housing, the government wants to demolish public housing estates at Waterloo South, South Eveleigh and 82 Wentworth Road, Glebe. The Arncliffe public housing estate has been demolished while Telopea’s ‘Three Sisters’ towers sit empty,” Evans noted.
Chels Hood Withey, a housing-first campaigner from House You said, “We need unions to help us retain and re-build public housing, as a solution to this crisis. It is almost 53 years since the NSW Builders Labourers Federation (BLF) joined forces with the ‘Battlers for Kelly’s Bush’ - an all-female residents’ action group - to protect the heritage-listed bushland from a proposed luxury housing development.”
Chels, noted, “it was the legendary Jack Mundey who as secretary of the BLF introduced the first green-ban which saved many of Sydney’s historic sites from demolition and preserved the inner-city suburbs of Woolloomooloo, The Rocks, Kings Cross and Potts Point.
“In Byron Bay, we have the most rough sleepers in NSW, and no public housing in our region; people are in desperate need. Australia faces its worst housing affordability crisis in generations, and we need more action from unions and community organisations to solve it,” said Chels.
Jeannie Erceg, Save Public Housing Victoria spokesperson said, “we are campaigning to stop the state government’s demolition of 44 public housing towers in Melbourne and if ever there was a need to bring back community-led green bans it is now.”
The petition in hardcopy and online is being circulated to unions, resident and community groups and public housing tenants, mortgagees under stress and renters.
The petition is calling unions to help lead green-bans and campaign with community to offer these solutions to the housing crisis:
Preservation of Public Housing: Ensure that existing public housing structures are preserved and maintained, protecting the rights and homes of current residents.
Public Housing as Solution: Promote the development of additional public housing to solve the housing crisis across the country.
Community Participation: Enact an inclusive and democratic process of community meetings (ie Citizen's Assemblies) where the input of the community genuinely informs any refit, refurbishment and redevelopment plans.
The petition will be delivered to unions to urge them to take an active stand to end demolition and privatisation of public housing and join the campaign for housing first. An online version of the petition is here.
For more information please phone Rachel, National Housing Justice Campaign on 0403 517 266 or Chels, House You on 0406 182 746 and Jeannie, Save Public Housing Victoria on 0451 148 901
or Email office@houseyou.org
Follow @house_you__ and @nationalhousingjusticecampaign on socials