There seems to be a second wave coming, so the issue isn't going away....
As we have seen from overseas, for example New York - inequality is the big killer.
MEDIA RELEASE - FRIENDS OF PUBLIC HOUSING VICTORIA’S RESPONSE TO COVID 19.
1.Public Housing has excelled at protecting public tenants, via built in safeguards such as rebated rents and comparative freedom from eviction. Public tenants unable to continue working because of the COVID crisis have had their rents automatically reduced. Only the Public Housing model has not needed the emergency government response of temporarily freezing rents and prohibiting evictions.
2.The virus has exposed the weaknesses of the current neoliberal market-based housing model, on which the shift to private so-called Community or Social Housing is based. The present crisis shows that we need to be driven by social responsibility, and by practical, rather than ideological concerns. The very fact that we have subsidized alternative models like Community Housing and NRAS is because the market does not satisfy housing needs. Public Housing faces this truth by directly dealing with the demand for housing without a rake-off to the private sector. Public Housing is the superior model and will be more needed than ever in the aftermath of COVID 19. Take the example of New York, where the severe social inequality has dramatically increased the rate of COVID infections and now the subways and trains, which are home
to rough sleepers pose a health risk to all New Yorkers. Social inequity eventually impacts on all of us.
3.The Public Housing Renewal Program, which encompasses 14 estates in Victoria, is largely a cover for privatisation and should be dropped. Relocated tenants should be returned to their estates. We support the call for surplus public land to be used for Public Housing, not for Community, Social, or Affordable Housing. These are all code words for the privatisation of Public Housing or its replacement with inferior alternatives. We also support the proposals in NSW to refurbish rather than replace Public Housing estates, so long as the government does not engage in Public Private Partnerships resulting in privatisation by stealth. Many estates in Victoria scheduled for demolition are in fact not dilapidated ( eg Noone St Clifton Hill). Now is not the time for cosmetic upgrades. So long as these homes are safe and comfortable they should be left as they are, and attention be directed to building new Public Housing.
4. It is likely that following this crisis there will be a recession or depression accompanied by rising unemployment. More people than ever will find themselves in housing stress. Guy Johnson, Professor of Urban Housing and Homelessness RMIT and Director of Unison Housing Research Lab, has conceded when examining the factors preventing homelessness that Public Housing excelled : "what stood out was Public Housing. The magnitude of its effect was many times greater than anything else." Now is the time for governments to recommit to Public Housing. There is an urgent need for a National Public Housing Policy, which should include federal funding going to the state and territories.In addition we call for the
setting up of independent statutory Public Housing authorities at the state and territory level to administer this vital work.
5.Another myth exploded by the pandemic has been that building new Public Housing has become unaffordable. As we have seen, there is money available. The federal government has made extraordinary expenditures to prop up the economy during this crisis. It depends on parliamentarians’ decisions on what policy and programs are supported and funded and how they are administered and delivered. The fact that no money from the COVID stimulus package has gone into Public Housing is unconscionable and an act of shortsighted stupidity. Currently there are over 100,000 applicants,both adults and children on the Waiting List in need of housing. Only 2.7 % of all housing in Victoria is Public Housing.
FRIENDS OF PUBLIC HOUSING VICTORIA.
HANDS OFF PUBLIC HOUSING.
DEFEND AND EXTEND PUBLIC HOUSING
ENQUIRIES - housinghumanrights @gmail.com
Yes Public Housing is the superior housing model. This is particularly so in declining economic times like now. Alas these posts are cries in the wilderness and our government decision makers are swayed away from this model by the many vested interest groups including vocal social housing apologists to ignore the great benefits public housing gives to our least advantaged in these trying times. There is a lesson in history in Victoria during the depression when the old Housing Commission greatly assisted economic growth, housing our most disadvantaged, and gave a great many jobs to unemployed with massive new building. Unfortunately in today's climate public housing policy is assigned to the too hard basket??
ReplyDeleteExcellent article! Clear, incisive commentary!
ReplyDeleteHow nice to see another Australian Ross active and socially committed. Give her our best wishes and love
ReplyDeleteIf the state government and the city of Melbourne want the title of the 'World's most Livable city', currently Melbourne is at number 2, one aspect of the criteria must be that the streets of the candidate city not be littered with bodies of rough sleepers ie homeless. Now that is interesting. At the moment during the current Covid crisis the homeless have been housed temporarily. Emergency Housing is a revolving door. When the Emergency is over they will be back on the streets. So that being the case, the judges of this competition, The World's Most Livable City, must be aware of this. What should be the criteria is the PERMANENT solution to the Homelessness problem. The best way of course is not to sell off Public Housing. No to Privatisation and No to The Public Housing Renewal Program because it is a cover for demolishing current estates and rebuilding them BUT three quarters or more will be private units- and the rest will be Community Housing or Social Housing which inspite of their names are not Public Housing. Yes to rebuilding more PH stock and Yes to up-keeping existing stock. Harold Haverly
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