Guest Post - Jeremy Dixon
This sign was up at the security door of the high rise flats behind Jewel Station in Brunswick. It forbids non tenants from visiting tenants. I don't know how literally this is enforced by security but it is deeply wrong in any case. Physical distancing may be needed in the present crisis but everyone else gets to decide which friends are within their "bubble". No reason for public tenants to be treated differently. I hear they are up in Atherton Gardens aka "the Fitzroy flats", and presumably the other high rises as well. I live in the North Carlton walk-ups and there is no sign like this around my flats, nice to know that in the walk-ups we are thought worthy to be a little further from house arrest than those suspicious high rise characters. Something about vertical living apparently makes the bureaucratic mind takes your rights less seriously, at least if you are a public tenant.
Opinions differ as to which physical distancing measures are reasonable and which are not. That is not the point here. The point is that this measure is not imposed on private renters, let alone private owners. Public tenants are not second class citizens and not second class residents either.
Here's a rundown on restrictions across the states.It covers social visits from romantic partners,children visiting as part of ongoing parental responsibilities and exemptions under the heading 'care-giving'. It appears that the blanket statement put up by the Dept on high-rises in their poster 'Area Closed' is not accurate.. Stay safe Public Tenants but you do have the same rights as everybody else. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/apr/30/can-i-visit-my-family-parents-coronavirus-australia-lockdown-rules-covid-19-restrictions-nsw-victoria-queensland
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