PRESS CONFERENCE: PREMIER CHRIS MINNS STOP EVICTIONS CASE AGAINST PEOPLE WITHOUT HOMES

MEDIA RELEASE, 10 April, 2025

FRIDAY APRIL 11, 9am AT SUPREME COURT, 184 Phillip St, Sydney

The ALP Premier Chris Minns government is evicting people without homes in flood affected Lismore and Northern Rivers, demolishing perfectly liveable dwellings and taking people to court for resisting their evictings.

Join House You, Grassroots Action Sydney, Action for Public Housing NSW, Hands Off Glebe, NSW Civil Liberties Council, MLC NSW Greens Sue Higginson outside the Supreme Court for this Conference before the Minns-led Supreme Court directions hearing.

After the catastrophic flood in 2022, the state government bought homes damaged by the climate disaster, with the purpose of relocating them to higher waters. The government body - the Reconstruction Authority (RA) - boarded up hundreds of houses, cutting off their services and fencing them off across town.

But Lismore and the Northern Rivers faced a dire housing shortage, so squatters occupied some of the empty houses, fixing the homes and creating a safe haven.

Miki from Grassroots Sydney and a Lismore community member, explained, “in Pine Street, Lismore and surrounds, ten houses were occupied and fixed. Shamefully, Premier Chris Minns launched attacks in the media against the residents, with local far-right thugs attacking people on Pine Street, damaging cars parked on the street, and launching fireworks at buildings. He called on local police to evict the residents of these homes, but they saw how much community support they have, and refused. So Minns turned to the Supreme Court of NSW to issue notices of eviction against people in the 10 homes.”

Miki continued, “Baillie Street, Lismore homes are being demolished, in fact dozens of homes are being demolished in Lismore while people sleep rough. In a severe housing crisis this is an abomination.”

Chels Hood Withey, from House You, a housing group in the Northern Rivers said, "We call on the government to withdraw these proceedings. After three years, more than 5,000 flood victims are still waiting for meaningful assistance while the government focuses on evicting people with nowhere else to go. The NSW Reconstruction Authority has approved only 16 grants for retrofitting out of 31,000 affected households, the homes are sound and safe and the legal costs ($400,000+) could aid retrofits instead of demolition.”

Rachel Evans, Action for Public Housing NSW said, “Minns is an eviction and demolition government. 63,000 people on the NSW public housing waiting list and what is his solution? Minns just evicted people from Selwyn St, Paddington Boarding Homes, has given 150 Waterloo South public housing residents eviction notices, door knocked eviction declarations to 45 Mascot public housing tenants. “

Karyn Brown, Waterloo South public housing tenant and Action for Public Housing spokesperson noted, “the homes bought by the RA are currently public homes. We need more public housing to solve the crisis, not demolition and property investor handouts. We call on everyone to take a stand against these evictions and demolitions and against this Supreme Court challenge Minns is enacting against people without homes.”

Call Chels Hood Withey 0406 182 746
Call Miki Flynn 0490 013 549
Call Rachel Evans 0403 517 266