Renters & Housing Union

“a small number of people … backed by the Greens political party, who have demonstrated that they don’t want particularly vulnerable Victorians to have the dignity of a new modern home”. – Victorian Premier, Jacinta Allan, via The Age, October 28, 2024

This is how the Honourable Jacinta Allan describes 1000s of people, from 100s of households. A broad brush stroke to cover all but 5 households, from the first 3 of 5 public housing towers the Victorian Labor government is gleefully eyeing to tear down.

Allan’s comments portray this diverse community as rubes, swindled and used as pawns by the Greens, while portraying the state’s Labor government as gracious saviours, who are simply providing “vulnerable Victorians [with] the dignity of a new modern home.”

In their attempt to remove agency from the people who are actively being impacted by the Labor government’s decisions, and use their community as a cudgel to bash the Greens – arguably the progressive party, although still ardently capitalist – Allan is trying on the same left-bashing-blazer that recently contributed to their Queensland colleagues losing power for the first time in almost a decade.

Buyer beware, side effects may include: losing out to one of the least popular opposition parties in living memory.

If Allan’s government truly cared about the “dignity” of vulnerable people in rentals, they would not be ploughing ahead with plans to completely destroy and privatise one of this state’s greatest assets. Instead they could be introducing protections for those in precarious situations, no fault evictions, and rental caps. Policies that would protect renters from eviction, or massive rental increases when requesting basic repairs.

Unfortunately for Allan, continuing the policies of the Andrews’ government, forcibly evicting people and claiming it is for their own “dignity” is a resoundingly unpopular move.

The Renters and Housing Union, who are unaffiliated with any political party, stand in solidarity with renters everywhere. In doing so we lend our unwavering support to Barry Berih and the 479 Public Housing tower households who stand united behind them.

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image credit: Renters and Housing Union