BE A CONCERNED CITIZEN - PICK UP THE PHONE NOW !!

VICTORIAN LABOR HAS ABUSED ITS POWERS - AND HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP STOP IT.  

Join in a Public Appeal to the Upper House of Parliament - Time is of the Essence. 
They are going to debate it on June 6.

Dear Supporter of Public Housing,

In March this year, Labor passed legislation to remove the planning powers from Metropolitan Councils to ensure they do not interfere with Labor's plans for the demolition and  privatisation of eleven inner-city public housing estates- aka Labor's 'Public Housing Renewal Program'.

This is unconscionable and undemocratic.

The Councils affected are those that have jurisdiction over the the targeted inner-city Public Housing estates.

In this way Labor can rubber-stamp any and all private property developments, sell-off our public land unopposed, overrule Council height restrictions, deny community consultation regarding a better deal for Public Housing in the face of 37,000 applications on the Public Housing Waiting List.

Labor's token increase of 10% more 'SOCIAL HOUSING' does not even guarantee true PUBLIC HOUSING - but can be owned / managed by private operators.

The projected outcome for the Public Housing Renewal Program will result in only 79 new additional 'social housing' units built for those in desperate need, while 2,040 private apartments will be built on what is now public land. Furthermore, 3-bedroom public housing dwellings suitable for families, will be knocked down and replaced with 1 and 2 bedroom apartments, so that the end result could be an actual decrease in capacity to house those in need!

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/vulnerable-public-housing-tenants-in-limbo-as-redevelopments-proceed-20180401-p4z7br.html

 Labor's plans are indefensible.
The 'Public Housing Renewal Program' will do nothing for the 37,000 people on the public housing waiting list or those who are homeless in this great country of ours. Pity the homeless people without shelter in the cold and the rain.

We need to demand from governments that they do better. A whole lot better.

So what can be done?

The Greens have acted to block this piece of legislation -to ensure a return of proper planning powers to local councils and local communities. 

But - to achieve this, they need the support of other members of the Upper House of Parliament, including the Liberals and other smaller parties.

https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaRatnamGreens/videos/1083419908462886/

Please take a moment right now to ring the following parliamentarians.
Or ring them back during business hours.

SAY THAT YOU SUPPORT THE GREENS' MOTION TO RESTORE PROPER PLANNING RIGHTS TO COUNCILS - AND URGE THEM TO VOTE IN LINE WITH THE GREENS ON THIS MATTER. 

The first three names are very important. If the Liberals come onboard, then basically the whole flawed Public Housing Renewal Program will be back on the drawing board and we can hammer out a far better deal for people in desperate need of housing and the homeless. So please do your bit- it really is that important.

David Davis                  98276655         david.davis@parliament.vic.gov.au
Mary Wooldridge        9878 4113        mary.wooldridge@parliament.vic.gov.au
Gordon Rich-Phillips  9794 7667        gordon.rich-phillips@parliament.vic.gov.au


Georgie Crozier              9555 4101      Shadow Minister for Housing

Margaret Fitzherbert      9681 9555     Chair of the Upper House Inquiry

Rachel Carling-Jenkins  8742 3226    Australian Conservative Party

Fiona Patten                   93864400      Reason Party

James Purcel                  55682929      Independent


You can also email them. Simply write their name in lowercase with a dot between first and second names and add the following address-  @parliament.vic.gov.au

Quote by John Kavanagh- Mayor of Moreland,

"Like every caring Victorian, I'm deeply concerned about the sell-off of public land and deeply concerned about the so-called 'Renewal Program'. This is a SHAM- this is a CON-and needs to be called out for what it is"

Sources
The updated Public Housing Waiting List is now 37,000 applications ( the actual number of people in need of housing would of course be far greater.  http://www.margaretfitzherbert.com.au/speeches/member-statement-markham-estate-ashburton/

'CALL TO ARMS' BY KEY HOUSING RESEARCHERS AND RESPECTED ACADEMICS

A 'CALL TO ARMS' BY KEY HOUSING RESEARCHERS AND RESPECTED ACADEMICS

We have an extraordinary situation developing, as individuals and professionals from different sections of society and walks of life are joining their voices to campaign against Vic Labor's so-called 'Public Housing Renewal Program'.

The following academics have joined other organisations in pressing Martin Foley, ALP Minister for Housing for a moratorium on any further action regarding the 'redevelopment' ( read privatisation ) of public land and public housing to Social ( aka 'Community' ) Housing Associations / Property Developers. These plans involve eleven inner-city public housing estates built on prime real-estate. This has fallen on DEAF EARS. 

I think you will agree that this is an interesting document, a sign of the times. We are at a crossroads... Read on 

"We are practitioners, academics and advocates who wrote to the Victoria Premier, Treasurer, and Ministers for Housing and Planning, on behalf of attendees of a University of Melbourne forum titled 'Maximising the Benefits of Public Housing Renewal' in December last year. The majority of over 150 participants in that forum called for a moratorium of the roll-out of the Public Housing Renewal Program until alternatives to the current approach could be discussed.

We have communicated this resolution to other relevant Members of Parliament, government officials overseeing the renewal program, and the staff of peak bodies representing organisations working in housing and social justice.

From these efforts it has become clear that the government is too committed to the current approach, and that the key peak bodies and housing providers are too vested in small gains from Community Housing stock transfer and government funding to challenge the existing program.

This is despite the vast majority of individuals agreeing with our critique of the current approach; there is a tragic sense of powerlessness and forced compromise from people in important positions who know Victoria could do better.

In the face of this crippling self-defeatism we call on all people within and without government to resist the sell-off of public land for such a paltry gain of a ten percent increase of social housing.

Many sound alternatives exist: from simply increasing government funding for public housing upgrades, to various leasing arrangements that would enable public,private or not-for-profit construction of build-to-rent or long-term-lease to bring in revenue and maintain government control of the underlying land. These mechanisms are outlined in the short attached document. All of them would enable continued public use of this land for future generations when the buildings produced through the current renewal program reach obsolescence.

We encourage people to organise within their communities in whatever ways they can to prevent these land-sales.

This is a broad based coalition- there are no leaders.

Those residents facing relocation have human and legal rights. If you are uncertain about your options or need legal advice please contact -

Public Housing Defense Network
Flemington and Kensington Community Legal Service
Tenants Victoria

Signed

Meredith Gorman- Homelessness Networker, Northern Metropolitan Region
David Leo Kelly - Doctoral Researcher, Deakin University - Research Fellow
Dr Matthew Palm - Research Fellow, Melbourne School of Design, University Melbourne
Dr Kate Shaw - Future Fellow, School of Geography, University of Melbourne
Chris Chaplin - Kensington Estate Redevelopment Evaluation Report.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVOR SPEAKS OUT - SAVE PUBLIC HOUSING

Both sides of the fence of the game we call 'politics' is ready to outsource public housing, hand over titles of publicly owned properties, bulldoze public housing to make way for private enterprise, sell off public land etc. The only difference is that Labor is more covert about their plans... SHAME on Labor.

We need to hang on to all the public housing we still have- there is precious little to meet the desperate need as it is. 

The Public Housing Renewal Program is still proceeding, despite the fact that the findings of the Upper House Inquiry have not been tabled yet. Public tenants are being moved out as quickly as Labor can do so. This program is wrong on on every level you can think of...

Dismantling and destroying the public housing system is a betrayal of the working class. Working class women and victims of domestic violence will be abandoned by governments unless there is ready and immediate access to public housing. Yes, this is a feminist issue.

Enough talk-fests and conferences about housing and homelessness which deliberately omit any discussion regarding the privatisation by stealth of public housing. That is so hypocritical.

The problem is primarily a practical one.  
Save public housing and build more of it! 

Here is Dee's submission- brilliant woman Dee. Love her to bits.

                                                                        
 DOMINIC and DEE- Friends of Public Housing - Western suburbs

DEE'S SUBMISSION TO THE UPPER HOUSE INQUIRY

My name’s Dee and I work with Friends of Public Housing in the Western Suburbs.

I’ve seen a lot of public housing torn down to make way for private properties in Braybrook, Sunshine, Maidstone and Footscray. There's no priority by the government to make any of these places available for the homeless, which is why people are forced to become squatters. My heart goes out to them.

I’m from Georgetown Tasmania. I was born and raised in the back bush of Tasmania.

I’m a domestic violence survivor from the 1970s.

In the late 70s I got into public housing in Tasmania but in the early 80's, to escape being victimised, I came to Victoria with my four kids.

I know what its like to have a loved one murdered due to domestic violence. I know what its like to be trapped in a catch 22 - I’ve had my children removed just because I didn't have a roof over my head. All this pushed me to the brink of insanity.

I was lucky enough to get into public housing again in Victoria and we stayed there happily for the next ten years.

I did Community Work with others who suffered domestic violence- single mums and street kids. I moved out of my public housing flat and back into the private sector. With some help from a relative I saved up and bought a caravan. A storm and a falling tree damaged the roof of my caravan and once again I lost my home.

We all ended up living in private rental properties. Housing Commission wouldn't look at us because I wasn't on the list for long enough. When my children were old enough and left home, I found myself couch surfing, as they call it today, at 58 years of age. I pushed the government, visiting MPs and such, and I was finally put in Public Housing again and I've lived here ever since.

Today, I'm a happy little vegemite in my little public housing unit for tenants over 55 with a disability, and I’m only leaving here when they take me out in a box. Unless the government chooses to stuff me around!

Many public tenants have been to hell and back. There's reasons why we are in public housing. No-one takes the time to care and find out why. People are so quick to judge.

Because we have lived through it, we know what we are talking about. We could help solve the problem of housing. But no-one is asking us. Instead the government is hiding behind plans of privatising public housing and thinks we are too dumb to know what they are up to. But we've got news for them. We do know what their plans are, and we plan to stop them!

Because of my work I have seen a lot of homeless, defenseless people, and I have seen a cycle where homeless people get depressed and mentally unwell, they have to see a doctor or psychologist, end up having to go into a psych hospital, and then its back on the streets- homeless again. This costs the taxpayers billions of dollars and this cycle can stop if the government will just get on with the job of housing the homeless.

Regarding the Public Housing Renewal Program, unless the homes are unsafe and need to be condemned, then leave the damn places alone. If tenants are forced to leave, what will their future be? The government has said they will be putting public tenants into private rental properties, at more cost to the taxpayer. The State Labor government needs to make up a legal document so each tenant and family will be returned to the same sized unit and guaranteed that it will public housing not private community or social housing.

Community Housing or social housing is totally different to public housing. For starters they discriminate about who they house. They charge more rent and the security that public tenants have in public housing is not there in community housing.

Governments are saying they want to mix public and private people together. Salt and pepper. This doesn't work. They don’t accept us. They think we are housos and scum of the earth.

It’s a known fact that domestic violence is everywhere but the rich protect themselves with high fences, walls and intercoms.They don’t want our old rattlers and bombs parked next to their BMWs, Volvos, and Mercedes.

The estates should stay where they are, for public housing and public tenants in the inner-city like its always been. 

DEE.

GOVT LETTERS ADVISING TENANTS OF POTENTIALLY DEADLY HEATERS INADEQUATE

GOVT LETTERS ADVISING TENANTS OF POTENTIALLY DEADLY HEATERS INADEQUATE

There are 6,525 Victorian public housing tenants potentially at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning from faulty Vulcan and Pyrox Heritage gas heaters in Public Housing properties. These tenants have been warned in a letter from the Department not to use the faulty heaters until they are tested and if necessary replaced.

In a statement to the ABC, a spokesperson for Public Housing said tenants were advised "not to use the heater and to contact the department if they require alternative temporary heating". But the department did not respond to the ABC's questions about how long it had known about the problem.

The DHHS is also doing a complete safety check of all other gas heaters in their properties, a further 47,000 bringing the total number of safety tests to 53,500.

According to Energy Safe Victoria, the recommendation is for all gas heaters to be checked every two years by a licensed gas fitter. What process does the government have in place regarding the servicing of its gas heaters in public properties, and has this process been followed?  Or is the government now embarking on a full safety check of all its heaters, because they have been prompted to do so, by the death of public tenant, Sonia Sofianopoulos from carbon monoxide poisoning in 2017?

The letters sent to public tenants regarding potentially fatal heaters falls short of the government's Duty of Care, because there is no adequate translation provided in the correspondence.

Public housing communities are very multicultural. Many tenants from migrant backgrounds would have had difficulty understanding the Department's letter. Since there is nothing in their language to immediately alert them, how would they know that their heaters are dangerous to them and their families?

With the cold weather coming, power bills surging  and windows closed to keep out the cold, the current risk of tenants using risky heaters that leak carbon monoxide due to being uninformed, is very real.

Here are pics of the letter - back and front. A second page has pictures of the dangerous heaters in question.

The translation advice on the back of the letter, see below, is stock standard, and is printed on the back of most DHHS communications with public tenants. It basically says that the front of the letter refers to matters of government accommodation such as rent, tenancy rights, housing and security and provides numbers where a translator is available. The body of the letter written in English concludes with the sentence 'If you do not understand this information please call this number"  ----  hardly helpful to tenants who can't read English.
In view of the fact that these are potentially lethal heaters, the government should have included a few sentences in the various languages spoken on Public Housing estates alerting them of the danger, such as 'The heaters pictured are potentially dangerous to you and your family as they can leak unsafe levels of Carbon Monoxide which can be fatal. If you have a heater such as these in your home DO NOT USE them. Phone this number for more    information---


Do we have to wait for further tragedies like public tenant Sonia Sofianopoulos, or the two little boys, Chase and Tyler Robinson who died of carbon monoxide poisoning while living in private rental accommodation?

 

 Sonia - described by neighbours as kind and generous,
always doing something for someone.” And below Chase and Tyler

 

We urge Martin Foley, ALP Minister for Housing, Aging and Disability, Mental Health and Equality to address Friends of Public Housing's concerns.

The newspaper articles linked below, talk of the hardship presently experienced by public tenants, many with disabilities and on low incomes, left without adequate heating during the cold weather.

                                          Sonia's neighbours

( Next blog post- Friday 18 May )

Sources
'Energy Safe Victoria's energy safety deputy director, Mike Ebdon said the recommendation that gas appliances be checked every two years for carbon monoxide levels and safety by a gas-qualified plumber would help save lives'.‘‘It is not a job for a handyman or a different class of plumber, it is a job that is only for a licensed gas fitter,’’ Mr Ebdon said.

'The coroner who investigated the deaths of two young brothers poisoned by a gas heater has urged statewide agencies to better educate people about the danger of carbon monoxide and to have home appliances serviced every two years.'

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-29/6500-public-housing-tenants-told-not-to-use-their-heaters/9598358     18 Mar 2018

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/sonia-s-death-from-heater-prompts-urgent-inquest-20180320-p4z5as.html  20 Mar 18

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/safety-check-for-more-than-50-000-public-tenants-amid-gas-heater-fears-20180405-p4z7vi.html   5 Apr 2018

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/public-housing-tenants-left-in-the-cold-amid-gas-heater-fears-20180510-p4zeij.html 11 May 18