Renters & Housing Union

In Anthony Albanese’s first major speech after being returned as Prime Minister, he lied to the Australian public about public housing yet again.

“I note both the Coalition and the Greens’ housing spokespeople won’t be in the parliament,” he says. “I think part of the reason … is they held up public housing.”

The Albanese Government has refused to commit to build public housing, only the less affordable, more expensive to the tax-payer, less secure, privately run, “community housing”. Max Chandler-Mather, the former Greens housing spokesperson, demanded public housing be included in this housing package that has been held up. It is incredibly disappointing to see Albo start his new term lying about Federal Labor’s housing policy, and throwing one of the few voices for public housing under the bus. When ALP representatives are brave enough to utter the words “public housing”, it is only to mislead the public.

Across Australia, we have seen public housing neglected, demolished, and privatised over the decades. The Victorian Labor government is committed to tearing down all 44 public housing towers, leasing the land to private enterprise to run “community housing” over the next 40 years. We witness the same agenda against public housing nationwide from Labor and Liberal, state and federal governments.

RAHU DEMANDS

RAHU demands that Albanese keep to his word, and commit to building real, publicly owned, publicly managed, public housing. The same housing that Albanese grew up in, and has since pulled the ladder out from under him for everyone else. RAHU encourages the Senate cross-bench to hold strong, and push the returned Labor government to maintain and build public housing.

Albanese reiterates in his speech “the key is supply, the key is supply, get out of the way and let the private sector build it”. This is a disgusting distortion of our current housing crisis. One in ten properties remain empty in Australia, enough to house every homeless person and more. The key is DISTRIBUTION Albanese. Property hoarders like yourself and your colleagues in parliament are the real problem. The private sector is not the solution Albo, as they would’ve solved the problem already if that was the case. We need a publicly owned builder, building publicly owned homes, to be used by the public. Not the private sector raking in cash from land hoarders, building shoddy homes to be left empty and juicing rents.

The Labor party has a mandate this election to enact real change for renters, public housing tenants and prospective homeowners. Yet their policies are focused on heating up housing prices, increasing profits for private developers and destroying the homes of thousands of public housing residents. 

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