Opposition to public housing sell-off
By Bronwen Beechey
MELBOURNE -- An attempt to auction a Ministry of Housing home in outer suburban Broadmeadows on May 15 was disrupted by a group of about 40 local residents angry at the sale of public housing.
The group, waving placards and chanting “No sale of public housing”, were unable to prevent the auction going ahead, but managed to hold it up at several points. The house was eventually passed in without reaching the reserve price.
Jeff Fiedler, from the Glenmeadows Public Tenants Group, which organised the protest, told Green Left Weekly, “We are trying to stop this auction because the house and land could have been used to house one of the 55,000 families on the ministry's waiting list. Already the waiting list for a house in Broadmeadows is over five years and growing. We can't afford to lose any more.”
Public tenant groups are concerned that this sale is part of a strategy to downgrade the public housing sector. Because of the cost of replacing old concrete houses such as the one in Broadmeadows, and the need to increase funding for new public housing to keep up with the demand, it is likely that the government will decide to sell off existing public housing rather than extend it.
This would force more tenants into the private rental market, where rents are almost three times as high.
Fiedler believes that, given the lack of commitment to public housing by both state and federal governments, actions such as the one on May 15 will be continuing.
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