The Victorian Greens have secured a parliamentary inquiry into the Victorian Labor Government’s plan to demolish 44 public housing towers and privatise most of the land.
Their motion for an inquiry was passed in the Upper House this afternoon with the support of the Opposition and the progressive cross-bench.
The inquiry will investigate Labor’s plan – which was announced in September last year as part of their ‘housing statement’ – to raze all of the public housing towers and sell off the majority of the land to private developers, displacing more than 10,000 residents.
It will investigate the rationale and cost-modelling for the decision, whether alternatives were considered, as well as the plan’s impact on current public housing residents.
Leader of the Victorian Greens, Samantha Ratnam, said for the past six months Labor had refused to answer any questions about their plan, including to public housing residents.
She said this inquiry would force the government to come clean and reveal how a project like this stacks up in the midst of a housing crisis.
The Greens say they anticipate the inquiry will commence as soon as possible, and expect it to be thorough and wide-reaching, taking us through to 2025.
As stated by Leader of the Victorian Greens, Samantha Ratnam MLC:
“For six months Labor has tried its best to hide any details about this plan.
“They’ve failed to consult, refused to answer questions, and left communities in the dark, hoping that 10,000 residents will quietly leave their long-time homes so the government can knock them down.
“But the Greens won’t let that happen. This inquiry will force Labor to come clean on this project that could end public housing in Victoria.
“For years this government has walked away from public housing and treated public housing residents like second-class citizens. With this inquiry we can help change that.
“Demolishing public housing will make the housing crisis worse. Governments should be building the public housing we desperately need, not knocking it down.”
