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Why the fight to save public housing in Victoria is the fight to save public housing everywhere

Australian Greens

By Samantha Ratnam, Victorian MLC for Northern Metro, Candidate for Wills

When I first arrived in Victorian state parliament in 2017, Labor had just announced what we now know to be the precursor for their real agenda: a complete retreat from public housing.

Their ‘Public Housing Renewal Program’ planned to demolish 10 low-rise public housing sites across Melbourne, give the majority of the land to developers for private housing, with a minimum amount of community housing rebuilt on the remaining land.

Local Councils were stripped of any decision making power and local communities were left shocked by the arrogance of a government intent on breaking up public housing communities.

Fast forward 7 years and as I prepare to leave state parliament to contest the seat of Wills, in the upcoming federal election, Labor has announced the next phase of their public housing destruction plans. A proposal to tear down all 44 public housing high rise towers across Victoria, privatise the majority of the land, and replace public housing with community housing.

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