Despite the rain, a BBQ brought together residents of Explorer Street in Eveleigh, near Redfern, and others campaigning for public housing on February 13.
Andrew Chuter from Friends of Erskineville (FoE) said the government plan to 鈥渄emolish wonderful homes, whack up apartment towers and sell 70% to the private market is wrong鈥.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just wrong at this time, during a pandemic, or at a time when the public housing waiting list is over 50,000 applicants long. It鈥檚 wrong in principle.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 because you can鈥檛 fund public housing by selling the very land it sits on. It鈥檚 like putting ads on the ABC to pay for the news. A public good requires public investment,鈥 Chuter said, adding, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we pay our taxes for鈥.
Chuter demolished the government spin that claims it is increasing the number of public housing dwellings being provided.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not the absolute number that matters; it's the proportion of public housing as a fraction of all housing that matters. That is what determines the overall social accessibility of public housing.鈥
The City of Sydney鈥檚 Housing Audit June 2020 shows that the percentage of public housing in the area is falling, he said.
He said that in nearby Ashmore Estate, developers are building 3000 new apartments, and not a single one will be public, let alone affordable.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 even despite the former landowner, Goodman Group, making a profit of more than $300 million when the state government up-zoned the land.
鈥淧ut simply, the private sphere is being allowed to massively swamp the public sphere.鈥
He suggested that mandating developers to build a minimum percentage of affordable housing on new developments could be one answer 鈥 鈥渋nclusionary zoning鈥 鈥 and negative gearing and capital gains tax exemptions need to be removed.
These ideas went down well with the crowd.
Local residents said they were not being kept informed by government, and were growing increasingly anxious.
FoE along with Hands off Glebe, REDWatch, Shelter NSW and Greens MP Jenny Leong聽organised the event.
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