We have known for almost three years about the Victorian Labor Government’s plans to knock down and privatise all 44 of the state’s public housing towers. The government have been very opaque and evasive about what will happen to the land, and the tens of thousands of people who call these towers home. But when details do eventually emerge, are shocking.
The Victorian Labor Government plans to give the public land at 139 Highett Street – where there are 220 public homes, open space with community gardens and the new playground – to private developers to build 800 mostly expensive, private units. This is the first of 5 towers on the estate to be demolished – the timeline for the rest of the estate has not yet been announced.
The proposed development includes 650 built-to-rent apartments, expensive rentals owned and operated by a single corporate landlord, typically at 20-70% above market rate (according to The Age). They are exempt from paying developer contributions for local infrastructure and are given a generous subsidies and tax discounts by the state government. There will be no public housing rebuilt on this land.
The build-to-rent development has not only displaced hundreds of public housing residents, but will also push the cost of rent up for everybody.
As your MP, I have fought inside and outside parliament to stop this disastrous plan, and we have successfully delayed it by three years. Residents, the community, experts of all stripes and even the UN have urged Labor to stop, but they are bulldozing ahead.
We are a proudly diverse and inclusive community where everyone, regardless of where you come from or how much money you have, can make a life here. That is under threat, and we must come together to stop this plan and protect public housing.
So what can we do?
Sign the petition to stop this plan and you will receive key updates.
We held a community meeting in late September with concerned public housing residents and neighbours, a lot of people are angry about this.
The government plans to give the public land at 139 Highett Street to private developers, but we have defeated plans like this before – when they tried to privatise Atherton Gardens public housing in Fitzroy, when they tried to build a road through communities in Collingwood and Clifton Hill, when they tried to sell Fitzroy pool – and we can defeat these plans, too. The fight is not over.
