CONGRATULATIONS TO NORTHERN TERRITORY NEWS FOR THIS ARTICLE

How Public Housing is being ripped off in the Northern Territory.

This article is refreshing because it is describing accurately what has been happening across the states following a Council of Australian Government meeting in 2009.

WELL DONE TO 'NORTHERN TERRITORY NEWS'
 No spin, no bullshit, no hiding the reality - simply informing the public of the flaws in its housing policies.

INDIGENOUS PUBLIC TENANTS WILL BE HIT HARD AND FURTHER DISENFRANCHISED AND DISADVANTAGED BY THESE STOCK TRANSFERS.

TITLE-

'PUBLIC HOUSING DWELLINGS IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY SHIFTED TO AFFORDABLE RENT SCHEME FOR MIDDLE CLASS'

April 24, 2015 11:29am

ZACH HOPE
NT News

'THE Giles Government has been quietly taking public housing meant for the desperately poor to boost a rent subsidisation scheme aimed at the middle class.

Housing Minister Bess Price has finally agreed to release current housing figures that show since June 30 last year there are 76 fewer public dwellings across the Territory – 53 fewer in the bush and 23 fewer in urban centres.

Mrs Price’s office said some of these urban homes had reached the end of their economic life, while others had been transferred to its Real Housing for Growth scheme, begun under former minister Matt Conlan and which Mrs Price was spruiking last week.

The Government has promised to deliver 2000 homes by next year and as of March 31, 488 houses had been completed and 500 were under construction. Eligible residents will pay 70 per cent of market rents under the scheme.

“The Real Housing for Growth initiative will support the attraction and retention of low to middle-income key workers in the Northern Territory such as teachers, mechanics, administrative staff, childcare workers and hospitality or retail staff,” Mrs Price said in a media release.

The release failed to mention that an undisclosed number of the homes would come at the expense of public housing.'

Other Stories 

NT Shelter executive officer Toni Vine Bromley said it was “significant” the CLP was removing public housing while wait times were, at best, three years (for a three-bedroom home in Katherine) and, at worst, 13 years (for a one-bedroom home in Nhulunbuy).

“There is no reduced demand for public housing and yet we’re losing numbers of stock,” she said.

“Affordable housing – that is for a different client group, and yes we need that too – but to actually get rid of public housing to turn it into affordable housing?

“We need to upgrade our public housing, so we do need to get rid of some of it, but we actually need to replace it. Even things like the sale of land at Kurringal (Flats), where’s the money going back into more housing? We’re not seeing where that’s going, but we’re losing stock.”

Mrs Price has still not revealed how much money the Government has made from the sale of public housing assets this financial year, nor how many applicants are now on the waiting list.
As of March 31 last year, there were 2748 general applicants, 683 priority applicants and 305 transfer applicants.

When asked why there were 53 fewer remote public housing dwellings, her office said “remote public housing stock no longer managed by the Department has been removed from stock figures” and offered no further explanation.


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The transferring of Public Housing has been happening under the radar here  as well -
ONLY IN VICTORIA WE HAVE ALREADY LOST FAR MORE THAN A FEW DOZEN DWELLINGS !!

Public Housing has been transferred across and offered to a different clientele - as this article explains so well when describing 'affordable housing'.

THE LACK OF AVAILABLE PUBLIC HOUSING STOCK IS ALREADY CREATING AN UNDERCLASS OF HOMELESS AND DESTITUTE PEOPLE !!  WE ONLY NEED TO LOOK AROUND US TO SEE EVIDENCE OF THAT.

 IT'S NOT ROCKET-SCIENCE.

SAVE, FIX AND EXTEND PUBLIC HOUSING
OPPOSE THE TRANSFERRING OF PUBLIC PROPERTIES.
DEFEND THE RIGHTS OF PUBLIC TENANTS.

VOICING DISSENT.

INTRODUCING MARK TOWLER

'Privatised Power stations and utility delivery systems hurt us all except the buyers who won the lottery through un-restrained price gouging (The 'competition benefits the consumer' mantra looks a little sick when you think of Woolies / Coles Caltex/Shell ).  Did I hear cartel ??

And so again we come back to Privatised 'Public Housing' (it's even nonsensical to write!). This will benefit the consumer. Sure !!!  Like petrol price competition benefits us!

 [Benchmark price today of oil (Sweet,light crude) $32.25, less than half the highest in 52 weeks.] How is the pump price not $0.85? CARTELS.

A little simplistic and perhaps a long bow, but the market will NEVER deliver consumer benefits whilst we have no choice !!

And women escaping domestic violence, men thrown out of work with nothing ahead but the dole, young people running from abuse and neglect, kids leaving 'out of home care', refugees, separated women with no super, no finances. You want to pretend these groups, these people have CHOICES ???,

You cannot shop around for the best deal in social housing when you simply don't earn the bucks to pay for anything they offer. 

And the community housing sector is NOT offering anything remotely close to a solution to this systemic problem. They simply - it seems to me - want to play in a bigger sandpit filled with the public's sand! AND WE WILL NEVER GET IT BACK !!!!

My twitter feed is being 'lit up' by NSW and Victorian Community/Social Housing lobbyists decrying my jaundiced view of the sell off of public housing. Too bad!

The 'fight for the title' is what all this is about. 

But the LAND is ours!  Not Bairds. Not Kennetts. Not Turnbulls. Not mine! Not yours!  it's sovereign wealth, despite the bloody fact that we are usurpers of the traditional custodians and despite that robbery, we somehow retain the fucking mind-numbing arrogance to think it's 'ours' to sell? This isn't 'SKIing' (spending the kids inheritance). This is simply WRONG!'



                     

VOICE OF PUBLIC TENANTS

Public tenants speak -

ChuChu  - Public tenant from Ethiopia

'Public Housing means everything to us!  Coming to this country as a refugee, public housing gave me security and a safe home. There's a big difference between public housing than private housing. I lived in private rental place till I was offered my public housing flat. I did not like living in private rental. I felt like a different person there. Everyone just lives their own life. No-one cares about you. I felt lonely. Public housing gave me confidence because everybody here is friendly. Public tenants come from a lot of different cultural backgrounds.'

Addo  - public tenant from Ethiopia

‘Later on they’ll say we should have spoken up when we had the chance. 

But how could we, when no-body would tell us what was going on !? ’

Lesley Agar  ( public tenant Qld )

Public Housing has the effect of maintaining sane rental and mortgage prices. Australians pay a larger proportion of their income on rent or mortgages than most countries in the world. This contributes to the climate of FEAR which is growing in our beautiful country where a fair go for everybody is becoming less and less common. Everyone needs to stand up for public housing to maintain this buffer of sanity.

Greed is the greatest evil on this planet. Australia used to be the 'lucky country' but nowadays the housing boom has lined the pockets of the real estate agents and other Fat Cat minorities and the homeless, low income, working poor, and the average Joe, is tormented by the high prices of unaffordable housing. This destroys communities. People have to move all the time. 'Lucky country' no more!

I lived in a Granny flat for 4 years. I hope I never have to repeat that experience. Everybody in the suburb around me owned their own home and I was treated like the 'wierdo loser' who lived out in the garden. They didn't really want me there. They just wanted the rent and the regular gardening I agreed to do as part of my rent. The superior attitude they had towards me was really horrible.

Lou  ( public tenant- Carlton )  on gentrification.

Human Rights lawyers believe we have the right to stay in our homes. Many lawyers are just sharks for the money- but Human Rights lawyers are more compassionate, they are for the people. Its very hard to find a lawyer who wants to fight for a just cause for very little money. A good percentage of lawyers belong with cars salesmen and real estate agents. They’ve got the gift of the gab. They just look after themselves. It's very hard to find a lawyer to help us fight for our rights before the hammer comes down on us all.   

Our way of life and our communities will be sold and forgotten. How can we pick up our lives and move on after such a destruction of our way of life and community values?  You can't put a price on that!  But the government has. The government has put a price on us.

MEET THE PUBLIC TENANTS - ZAHRA

ZAHRA IS ONE OF MANY MUSLIM WOMEN LIVING IN INNER-CITY PUBLIC HOUSING.

DEFEND WOMEN LIKE ZAHRA FROM POLICIES OF DISPLACEMENT AND GENTRIFICATION.

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Meet Zahra- a public tenant.

Zahra is originally from Eritrea.

She is one of six children. She has four sisters and a brother. Her father was a policeman. She had a very happy childhood.

Her culture is one in which relatives, neighbours and friends are always visiting one another, sharing meals and conversations. Children play together and there is a strong social network. “Everybody is happy together.”

Zahra was married when she was only thirteen years of age. It was an arranged marriage. She doesn’t remember much about her wedding day. “I was too young.”

Throughout its history Eritrea has been embroiled in many struggles with colonial powers, as well as fighting for its independence from Ethiopia. Many countries wanted domination of Eritrea due to its strategic position on the Red Sea.

A 30 year war ( 1961- 91 ) against the Ethiopian government left Eritrea in ruins. Billions of dollars were spent in arms against Eritrea. Infrastructure and services were destroyed leaving towns without electricity, water and transportation for many years. The ports were bombed. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed and hundreds of thousands became refugees.

It was during this war that Zahra, who was a young mother with two sons, fled the country with her husband. Refugees left Eritrea by foot or by camel, stopping each night to rest and to sleep. She remembers the planes overhead dropping bombs and the noise of the helicopters.

“ I was in the middle of a war. I was scared. I felt very sad too.”

 It took one month of walking before the family reached Kasala in Sudan. Zahra and her family settled in Kasala and lived with relatives there. She had three more children. Zahra has three daughters and two sons.

Her husband returned to Eritrea and the family lost all contact with him.

Life in Sudan was good in spite of people having very little. “Everybody helps each other. Everybody shares.” Zahra raised her children and lived in Sudan for the next thirty years.

Seven years ago Zahra’s sister helped the family to immigrate to Australia. Zahra wanted her children to have more opportunities in life. Her three adult daughters are living here. One is married with two children. The other two are studying at university. One son has since died and the other son still lives in Sudan.

Zahra misses both her sons. She would like to see her surviving son very much. She has not seen him in seven years. She and her daughters have applied for him to come to Australia, but have so far been unsuccessful. Zahra has become depressed and pessimistic about being reunited with her son. She has diabetes and insomnia.

Her adult daughter, Nahla, returned to Kasala recently for a holiday. All their neighbours, friends and relatives made a huge fuss over her. They roasted a whole lamb and held a feast in her honour. There was music and dancing. Whenever they spoke of Zahra they cried, because they miss her so much.

Zahra is a Muslim. She gains a lot of peace and comfort from practicing her religion. She prays five times a day. She enjoys cooking for her daughters and her two little grandchildren. She cooks delicious Sudanese food; rice, beans, salad, meat, chicken and fish.

She is very happy with her Public Housing flat. She visits the Mosque and shops at Barkly Square in Sydney Road. She buys her fresh produce at the Victoria Market.

Every week she joins other Muslim women from the Eritrean community. They share a meal and enjoy each other’s company.

Zahra has lived in Public Housing in Australia for seven years, but has only lived on the current Housing Estate in Carlton for three months. She likes it here. “The area is nice. The people are friendly”

GIVING AWAY PUBLIC HOUSING

JEREMY DIXON  

FRIENDS OF PUBLIC HOUSING VICTORIA
CONVENOR - DEFEND AND EXTEND PUBLIC HOUSING

SOLE PARENT, PUBLIC TENANT

I'm Jeremy Dixon. I live in a public housing estate in Carlton. 'Walk-ups' as we call them –which are blocks of 3 storey flats, as opposed to the High-Rise tower-blocks. The 'walk-ups'were designed for a community mix of singles and families and comprise of units with 1, 2 and 3 bedroom flats.

I want to talk briefly about public housing and the main issue I see which is facing it- which is the transferring of the properties- also known as stock or asset transfers.

There is a bipartisan agreement between the Liberal and the Labor governments - also unfortunately the Greens – that the best way to deal with Public Housing in the future is to hand it over to entities known as Community Housing – in other words to privatise it. Although Public Housing is very much a state policy concern - it is also driven and coordinated federally.

Community Housing Organisations have sometimes had their origin in charitable trusts to provide housing for the poor- but have since been built up through government policy into a kind of hybrid entity – part business, part charity - sometimes having the worst features of both.

It has become a consensus around the housing industry that these entities - Community Housing Organisations- are the future of low-cost housing. A remarkable level of concensus about this has been achieved, without the public in general hearing very much about it at all.

I used to be involved in the Regional Tenants Council which were participation bodies set up by the then Labor govt to make some show of engaging tenants in participation of policy and to provide feedback from public tenants to the Office of Housing. My friend Fiona was also involved in this Council and we found out that the government was engaging in massive stock transfers. When we followed it up - through the wonders of the Internet- looking at policy documents and so on, it became clear that this was already a deeply entrenched policy. This all happened in the last days of the Vic Brumby Labor govt and during the Bailleu Liberal State government.

The spooky thing was that when we tried to talk to staff involved in public housing about it, they would look us straight in the eye and deny it. As I soon discovered in dealing with them, there is a culture in the public housing bureaucracy of what you might call, a patronising attitude to tenants. A prevailing attitude is that there is no need to tell the truth to public tenants. This is fairly ingrained. It even infects some of the good and dedicated workers within the bureaucracy.

In the case of wanting to know more about the stock transfers the situation was quite bizarre.

We had documents in our hands referring to the stock transfers. One could read on the Internet, parliamentary papers and find discussions about it, but when we wanted to know more, Housing Office personnel acted as if the whole thing was a complete fantasy on our part.

An employee from the peak body for public tenants, the VPTA- an organisation which works closely with the government, told us that because Community Housing had been managing the properties for some time, handing over the deeds was a mere formality. This is how it is often done. First the management is transferred and then later, presumably to minimise any resistance to the agenda of privatisation, the titles are handed over.

The program of privatising Public Housing to the benefit of Community Housing Organisations is continuing to happen. Labor and the Greens will often avoid talking about the stock transfers unless you pin them down. 

For those interested in the future of Public Housing the challenge is to find some way of breaking through the wall of silence and the consensus which has already been achieved among those who work professionally in the housing industry.

Many privatisations have taken place already which the Left have been unable to stop.

Now we need to focus on housing. After all housing is a basic human need. We all need somewhere to live.

We need to find a way to fight this issue.

Jeremy Dixon 

ARTICLE BY CEO OF COUNCIL TO HOMELESS PERSONS

Here is a fine article by Jenny Smith, CEO of the Council to Homeless Persons. The second largest group of people that live in public housing are elderly pensioners. FOPHV thanks Jenny Smith for this article that challenges the unfair stigmatization of public tenants- and defends their right to remain safely housed. It is shameful to push people out of their homes to satisfy the profit-making interests of corporations. 

This article was published by Huffington Post Australia.

Public Housing Residents Are Not 'Living The High Life'   24.2.16

Jenny Smith, CEO of the Council to Homeless Persons

• r

News headlines often need a little unpacking, including one this week from Channel 7: 

 "Housing commission residents living with million-dollar views -- some public housing tenants are living the high life for little more than $100 a week, thanks to taxpayers". 

The story unfolds with some sharp-suited developers rubbing their hands in glee at how much money they could make if they had the opportunity to develop prime, inner-city land that houses many thousands of people on low incomes.

I wonder if, on viewing the video, many in the audience would really wish to turf great-grandmother Pat onto the street to let the speculators and investors have their free-for-all. Perhaps only the most fervent could be so venal.

And yet, this story invites us to consider a question that is at the heart of much of the current debate on negative gearing, and which has long dogged the conversation on government policy relating to housing affordability.

Is housing a critical platform for peoples lives? Is it as fundamental -- or more so -- to our wellbeing as education and health; or is housing simply a platform for wealth creation; for speculators to gamble on its future value, and for those seeking to minimise their tax liabilities to have a means to keep more in their pocket and put less in the common pool?

In considering this question it's worthwhile to consider what might be the alternatives for Pat, were she not to have the opportunity of her apartment in the high-rise estate. Like many other women who have raised their families and joined the ranks of the aged poor, she could live in private rental, where she would inevitably pay more than 50 percent of her income in rent.

She would live at the whim of a landlord, who could evict her, for no stated reason, if she complained about repairs not done, or rent hikes. She would risk homelessness if rents increased beyond what she could afford, or she could risk her health by not eating properly or not filling her prescriptions so she could make those payments. 

She might choose to move further out, to somewhere slightly cheaper, albeit still costing more than 30 percent of her income, and suffer isolation as she loses her connection to local family and friends, familiar shops and services.

This -- or a bed in a rooming house, couch surfing or life on the street -- is the reality for real people if we fail to treat housing as a fundamental need and develop a coherent plan to address the affordability crisis.

However, housing markets weren't always so tight. In times gone past, Pat would have afforded a modest rental in the very location she now lives in public housing.

Inner-city and port-side areas like Fitzroy and Williamstown were not always home to Melbourne's high flyers, but rather Melbourne's slums following the Great Depression.

The Fitzroy estates we see today were developed on slum reclamation land, purchased cheaply to swiftly house low-paid workers who were unable to secure a safe home for themselves and their families.

The Williamstown estates tell a similar story. After the Second World War, family homelessness skyrocketed, and dangerous makeshift shanties and tents popped up everywhere. The Housing Commission of Victoria developed the Champion Road and West Newport estates in response.

These estates represented a new approach to housing provision and addressed criticism of the poor quality of earlier estates. They signalled change.

Now, gentrification has re-ignited interest in these areas. Decades of speculative investment fuelled by generous tax breaks have created suburbs in which the 'Pats' can't compete.

It is time again for the government to be visionary about housing policy. To create affordable housing options for the 120,000 Victorian households living in rental stress; and the over 22,000 who are homeless on any given night.

And it's time for the speculators to leave Pat, and others, safely housed by the visionaries of the past.

CLASS AND RACISM

            This is what a public tenant family looks like.

While politicians, bureaucrats and other organizations have been busy, behind closed doors, discussing and making decisions regarding the future of public housing and what is best for the ‘disadvantaged’

( which coincidentally benefits the advantaged.. Funny that !?  ) the public tenants themselves have been locked out of any genuine consultation, and effectively blocked from being able to find out what is going on…

Coupled with little or no media coverage discussing the privatisation of our ( collectively owned ) public housing - public housing communities are still largely uninformed of proposed changes to the present public housing system.

This is classism - that some groups are privy to important information while others  ( including those who will be the most affected by these changes ) have the information withheld.

Knowledge is indeed power.

Are any politicians - Liberal, Labor or Greens -  meeting with their constituents in public housing to openly discuss how proposed plans to transfer Public Housing management and titles to 'community housing' businesses will affect them and their families- including the rights and protections they stand to lose?

Have there been any discussions that address the agenda of gentrification which is part and parcel of public housing 'redevelopments'?   No !?

At the same time these political parties claim to care about refugees, indigenous Australians, people with disabilities, people who have experienced domestic violence, sole parents, migrants etc.

It must be an uncomfortable and  inconvenient truth to them that all these groups are strongly represented in public housing!

Neither is there is a campaign of resistance by the Tenants Union or the peak body for public tenants - the Victorian Public Tenants Association(  VPTA ) - when it comes to the privatisation of public housing.

If the ALP hands over the titles of public housing, how long do you think it will be before public tenants are financially squeezed out of our inner-city homes- which are situated on prime real estate- and can command exorbitant rents?   Or will we be forcibly displaced?  So much for 'affordable housing' - which are weasel words anyway to those of us who have been following the situation in Britain. In the UK the term affordable housing has become a sick joke.

I once asked the following question of a proponent of Community Housing in a mutually respectful discussion. 'How can you justify keeping thousands of people uninformed of what is going on, and uninformed of their rights?'

Her response was that 'it is better not to cause them unnecessary anxiety beforehand'.  Really !? No-one has the right to play God with other people's lives and their future in this way. This is paternalistic and classist.  It also sounds like a rationalisation. If the tenants are kept powerless and uninformed - they won't be ready or able to organise against these proposed changes.

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Classism is as obnoxious and unacceptable as racism.  In fact classism and racism are often intrinsically linked, as the following examples illustrate.

Many indigenous public tenants have been evicted in Queensland and Western Australia under the controversial 3 Strikes Eviction Policy. It has been described as a racist policy.

This is true- since its impact on indigenous tenants has been disproportionate. But it is primarily an attack on class because it is a policy aimed at public tenants- over and above the usual requirements of the Residential Tenancy Act.

The 'redevelopments' at Prahran include plans to demolish the 'walk-up' component of the mixed low and high rise public housing estate.The estate will 'lose three and four bedroom units to be replaced by housing for singles' 

How is this going to impact on the present public housing community in Prahran? The community will be decimated by this 'redevelopment'. What about large families that require additional bedrooms?

I predict that our lovely public tenant families from the Horn of Africa with be disproportionally affected by this redevelopment and will be displaced. 

What a sad loss of diversity for both our public housing communities and for the broader society. 

Is anybody at all discussing this with the community in Prahran ? - Labor, Liberals, Greens?  

Are the public tenants being told the truth? Or are they being deliberately kept uninformed because, after all, public tenants are powerless, and property-developers have loads of political influence and power.

Friends of Public Housing has visited the Prahran estate, and it appears that the public tenants there have no real idea of what is happening or the ramifications.

One more example of class and racism. We heard the following anecdote regarding a young African man who wanted to apply for public housing.  He was told that since he was young, fit and healthy he should be applying for private rental housing. The message he was given was that public housing is - well - for losers. This young man wanted to live in public housing to be a part of his Ethiopian community!  Maybe this employee would like to go onto a major inner-city public housing estate and call our wonderful Ethiopian public tenants 'losers' ??!!

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There are some good sites in the US that address class. I cannot find anything comparable here in Australia. Please let me know if you know of any.

Public housing communities have a great deal to offer society. When it comes to 'social capital' we are indeed wealthy - because public housing is all about community. On the other hand, the doctrine of neoliberalism that is driving these privatisations and dividing our society into haves and have-nots, has no real value system apart from the glorification of money and markets.



Sources
http://www.classism.org/about-class/why-does-class-matter
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/highrise-towers-to-remain-in-prahran-public-housing-estate-20150824-gj6k19.html#ixzz40gsHvw6K
http://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2016/jan/07/tories-affordable-housing-meaningless-term-london