FOPHV - A FAIR GO FOR EVERYONE!

Friends of Public Housing are proudly supporting a conference organised by Fair Go For Pensioners entitled "Up In The Air"

This is not the usual in-house conference which costs hundreds of dollars to attend and where the influential decision-makers all gather round behind closed doors. No - this is a free conference for all people. The conference will be addressing the outsourcing and privatisation of many essential 'welfare' services which have traditionally been in the government's domain. The privatisation of Public Housing will be addressed as part of this.

We are pleased to say that attendees for the conference is now at full capacity. Places were limited and have now been filled.

Many thanks to Jack Verdins from Friends of Public Housing for his valuable work in preparing the following document for the Conference. Jack will be speaking on the day.


                Jack Verdins


 
    THE THREAT FACING VICTORIAN PUBLIC HOUSING 
                    -   WHERE TO NOW?
                            

STOCK TRANSFERS 

Exacerbating the problem,the government is planning to  transfer management of 4,000 Public Housing  properties to the private Community Housing Industry. A reliable source has informed us that a further 10,000 is being proposed. In the past, management transfer has often preceded title transfer. This is wrong, since Public Housing belongs to the people of Victoria and should remain in public hands.(3)

The terms and conditions are unclear,but what is clear is the strategy of the government to abrogate its responsibility for providing Public Housing to all who need it, and to privatise it instead by handing it over to ‘Community Housing’ businesses, also known as ‘Social Housing.’

There is a distinct difference between Public Housing and Community/Social Housing.

Over the last 25-30 years Community Housing groups have evolved from small organisations responding to community needs ( and government neglect ) into huge bureaucracies, embedded very much in their formal structures, utilising heavy-handed powers to manage their tenancies, pressuring and lobbying for major government funding and additional financial windfalls,and exhibiting the behaviour of “just another” large corporation. As individual businesses they have their own policies and procedures that differ from Public Housing. Community /Social Housing organisations can cherry-pick their tenants and a lot of the protections of Public Housing are missing. (such as flexible rents linked to household income.)

The Churches are very much a part of this paradigm shift - the privatising of Public Housing. 

CORPORATE WELFARE 

Community / Social Housing needs an ongoing stream of Commonwealth Rent Assistance - CRA -to prop them up. It is being used as an operating subsidy. Public Housing, being outside market forces, does not need CRA at all. This is public money which would be far better spent on building more public housing to address homelessness and the housing crisis.

THE PUBLIC HOUSING RENEWAL PROGRAM (PHRP)

The PHRP was announced in December 2016 to redevelop low-rise properties at eleven Public Housing sites:

Nine sites covering Brunswick West; North Melbourne; Heidelberg West; Clifton Hill; Brighton; Prahran; Hawthorn; Northcote; and Ascot Vale. Two further renewal projects at Flemington and Preston to be managed under the PHRP but budgeted for under previous arrangements.

The design point for the PHRP is to deliver an increase of at least 10% in Public Housing dwellings. This has not in fact been the outcome. The scheme also includes massive development of apartments on the estates for private sale.

In March 2019 contracts were signed for the first three estates in North Melbourne, Northcote and Preston.It was announced that the Victorian Government was joining with development partners MAB Corporation and ‘Community Housing’ Association, HousingFirst, to completely rebuild these sites. As you can see in the table below, the end result will be that Public Housing units will be replaced by ‘social housing’ units.

The outcome for Nth Melbourne, Northcote and Preston is that there will be NO Public Housing at all - zero. (4) It will have been transferred to Community Housing.

OUR CONCERNS REGARDING THE PUBLIC HOUSING RENEWAL PROGRAM

• That there will be NO Public Housing on the redeveloped estates, as we have seen in the first tranche to go across. The replacement 'social housing' will be either owned and/or managed by private Community Housing organisations.

• An increase in dwellings does not necessarily equate to an increase in the number of bedrooms. The end result can be a decreased capacity to house people in need. 

• The shift to smaller sized dwellings will lock out many tenants who might want to return after the developments are finally completed. Families especially will be locked out. This was the situation in the two previous developments at Kensington and Carlton.

• The PHRP is unsustainable. It will result in an irretrievable loss of public land, sacrificed to cram towers of apartments for private sale.

•  Dereliction of Duty by the government to maintain and increase Public Housing stock.

• Public tenants are being denied genuine consultation and natural justice. They have been promised that everyone can return and they are leaving their homes in 'good faith.' Yet evidence gathered by the Upper House Inquiry, the Federation of Legal Services and RMIT research indicates otherwise. “The evidence shows that relatively few residents will be able to return.”(4)

• In fact the 'Right to Return' is calculated at 20%. Factors include a reluctance by those displaced to go through another major move, long redevelopment periods (from 3-5+ years ) and, as stated, the decrease in bedroom numbers in the new units, which will not meet the needs of many tenants and their families.

• The ‘Public Housing Renewal Program’ is a misnomer. These ‘redevelopments’ are an exercise in social engineering, displacement and gentrification.

• The PHRP is just the tip of the iceberg! Other Public Housing 'redevelopment' projects are already underway.

• The sell-offs and privatisation of Public Housing ( largely unreported and unknown to the general public ) is happening right across Australia. For example, the NSW State Government is currently continuing to transfer the management of 18,000 Public Housing properties to Community Housing businesses. 

(3) Allocation,Eligibility,Rent Setting CHFA 2014 

(4) Understanding the assumptions & impacts of the Victorian PHRP, Kelly & Porter, May 2019, RMIT University Centre for Urban Research

MORE RESPONSES FROM CANDIDATES

		More responses from Candidates...

JULIAN BURNSIDE
GREENS CANDIDATE FOR KOOYONG
In a wealthy country like Australia, no one should be without a home. Unfortunately, years of Liberal and Labor governments have treated housing like a commodity and created a system that works best for their big corporate donors. First home buyers compete with wealthy investors who benefit from tax breaks, and our rental laws are heavily skewed to favour landlords over families and young people.

The Greens will ensure we have a housing system that puts people’s needs before property developer greed. We will establish a Federal Housing Trust to fund the building of 500,000 public and community homes. 

If you'd like to read our plan to ensure a home for all in Australia with more details on our housing policies, please visit our website here: https://greens.org.au/platform/homes
Regards,  Rob (from Julian's team)
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KATH LARKIN
VICTORIAN SOCIALISTS - CANDIDATE FOR COOPER

Victorian Socialists are 100% opposed to the sell off and privatisation of public housing.

Victorian Socialists reject the trashing of public housing that is being carried out by stealth by both state and federal governments. Instead of what amounts to privatisation of public housing under the guise of "social housing", we call for government investment to massively expand public housing so that the system not only caters for all those currently on waiting lists, but makes it a real and attractive alternative to private rental for hundreds of thousands of people.

 State and federal governments have all shrugged their shoulders and given up on providing affordable high-quality housing as a right to the whole population.They’ve decided that the private sector should simply run the sector, according to its priorities; profit from land value appreciation, land banking, investment-based apartments, frequently empty, funded through negative gearing, with a glut of overpriced units, and an absolute shortage of affordable properties.

A lot could be done about the private rental market, but there is only one thing that will create affordable housing: a massive revival of public housing, and a revolution in how it is used. Development Victoria’s mission could include a massive expansion of public housing. Instead we are selling off a valuable public asset and paying developers to build homes at a profit.

The revolution in public housing would create a public housing sector that it is open to and used by people on low, lower-middle, and middle incomes, either as a prelude to entering the private market, or as secure housing for life.
https://www.victoriansocialists.org.au/manifesto
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DAVID BLAKE 

INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE FOR MELBOURNE

"If you go to my website and download my Policy document, you will see I refer to increasing housing for low income households in the proposed Arden-Macauley precinct, from 6% to 20% - for 50 years!

http://www.vote1daveblake2019.com/

I think we need to help public housing tenants so they are not punished for working in casual and temporary jobs.

My view on housing in general is to increase the supply overall but so that we have more accessible and affordable housing for working Australians. That means shifting jobs to country towns and growing new cities.

We have shown we can do smart things with public housing in Victoria in years gone by, and we can get back to that.

I am in favour of smaller 'in-fill' style projects evenly spread out across Melbourne, so that people who are unemployed or low wages or have disabilities can access employment opportunities. We have good examples of that in North Melbourne and it works really. I don't think we should isolate people."

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MARK FERRIS
SUSTAINABLE AUSTRALIA PARTY 
Affordable housing is one of our four key campaign pillars. For our policies on housing please see this link  www.sustainableAustralia.org.au/policies

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SEB CARRIE WILSON
The FLUX Party
The Flux Party is an apolitical party with the aim of promoting issue based direct democracy using the Flux App
For example if a piece of legislation concerning Public Housing was put before the parliament, every enrolled voter could vote to pass or reject the legislation. With the flux model every citizen has a vote instead of just the politicians.To find out more please visit https://voteflux.org/ 
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STEPHEN CAMPBELL

- FEDERAL SECRETARY DLP

 I'm happy to commit the Democratic Labour Party (Labour DLP) to the protection and extension of Public Housing. We also oppose the current, or any, privatisation strategy.

The DLP would in fact like to see all a National Public Housing Scheme (NPHS) where state public housing across Australia is brought permanently under Federal government control with a national low income rental rate of 25% of earnings and 15% for disabled occupants. The scheme would be introduced in a cooperative style with a government agency as 'steward' of the scheme but ownership and control being in the hands of the Australian people. As the scheme has a cooperative structure the housing could not be sold off without the agreement of 90% of the co-op shareholders; the shareholders being those Australians who appear on the electoral roll (some 15 million).  

This is part of the long term DLP cooperative plan to see all State and Federal assets, utilities etc... brought under direct ownership of the Australian people by Cooperatising them. Governments then get to be stewards of the assets but ownership is directly in the hands of the people. https://dlp.org.au/

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DUNCAN DEAN UNITED AUSTRALIA PARTY 
CANDIDATE FOR LA TROBE
Australia is currently going through a housing crisis. This has been building for decades now, to its current peak which may get even higher unless government wakes up and intervenes in our national domestic housing travesty.  Homelessness and lack of housing support is a misery being suffered every day by thousands of Australians, in every state and territory of this supposedly "lucky country".  Lucky for some, but not the many others who have become the underprivileged and hapless souls missing out on the security of a place to live in a country as wealthy as Australia.  We must ensure a safe place to live for all in the Australian community. Sole parents and other underprivileged sectors of our society are suffering.

If I am lucky enough to be elected to the House of Representatives in the Australian Parliament by the people of the La Trobe electorate in May this year, I will be doing all in my power under the next term of government, whoever is at the helm and whichever party has a majority, to ensure that the needs of those requiring public housing are met. 
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BILL CHANDLER OAM
INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE FOR KOOYONG
As a city planner I am only too aware of the issues of housing affordability and homelessness. I am not in a position to give you a detailed response, but I am clear in saying that we have dropped the ball in this area,not least of all in providing funded public housing, and recognising that renting is a reality for many people who should be assisted, not penalised. Electricity cost savings by installing solar panels is just one example. See my key issues on my how-to-vote card. The www.billchandlerforkooyong.com website includes evolving details of my values,advocacy and campaign, and I post on Facebook billchandlerforkooyong. All the best with your important program. Bill Chandler OAM To discuss further please ring 0419762760.

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OUR RESPONSE

Many thanks to all the candidates who have responded, especially since most are frantically busy on the hustings leading up to the day of the Election. ( More responses were featured on the previous post. )

The difference between Public Housing and Community Housing has not been addressed by many of the respondents. I think there is still much confusion about the two housing models.They should not be conflated as if they are the same or similar. 

The reality is that Community Housing ( aka Social Housing ) is TAKING OVER Public Housing. 
Public Housing is being privatised, and this is happening right across all Australian states.

Arguments in favour of Public Housing vis-a-vis business housing models such as Social and Community Housing, should be actively engaged in by all political candidates. We believe that Public Housing does the job of housing people far better than Community Housing - and at far less cost to society.

With homelessness rising all the time, and so many people experiencing severe housing stress, we simply cannot afford to keep losing Public Housing in this way.

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Don't forget to sign the petition by the Federation of Community Legal Services.
https://www.fclc.org.au/public_housing