PRESS RELEASE: HOUSING ACTION ON WORLD ERADICATE HOUSING DAY

Thursday October 17th, 1pm at the top end of Martin Place, Sydney.

Housing, resident and anti-poverty groups are taking to Martin Place, opposite NSW Parliament to protest on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Karyn Brown, a Waterloo South resident and Action for Public Housing activist, said ‘all layers of government - local, state and federal - are not going to meet their housing targets. We are in a housing crisis not seen in living memory and governments are making it worse by demolishing public housing estates like mine.’

Andrew Chuter, a resident group activist with Friends of Erskineville said, ‘the declaration of Human Rights, which Australia is a signatory, asserts housing is a humanitarian issue. But governments have failed us. Over 130,000 people experience homelessness every night and almost 190,000 households are languishing on public housing waiting lists. Yet, on a typical night there are a million vacant properties around Australia. A vacancy tax operates in Victoria and a strong one should be legislated here in NSW too,’ Chuter said. 

Chuter continued, ‘in Selwyn Street Paddington, developers have bought up boarding homes and plan to evict the elderly tenants to construct a few huge luxury homes housing far fewer people. Sydney Council could buy the boarding homes and manage them as public council housing, as one solution to the housing disaster’ concluded Chuter.

Karyn Brown noted, ‘Our campaigns to save public housing have won some partial victories. In early October, the state government announced they would refurbish Telopea’s ‘three sister’ public housing towers, not demolish them. But they are set to demolish public housing in Waterloo South, Mascot, Maroubra, Glebe and wider NSW,’ explained Brown.

Speakers: Carolyn Ienna formerly 82 Wentworth Park Rd, Glebe resident - Mike Mannix, Paddington Society - Karyn Brown, Waterloo community leader and Action for Public Housing, Philipa Veitch - Greens Mayor Randwick,  Elizabeth Elenius - Pyrmont Action Inc, Matthew Thompson - newly elected Greens councilor at Sydney Council. Chaired by Andrew Chuter and Julie Threadgold.  Event here

Organised by Action for Public Housing, endorsed by Pyrmont Action Inc. Supported by the Anti-Poverty Centre.  Karyn Brown 0432 409 711 Andrew Chuter 0412 723 565