While almost all the candidates contesting the City of Sydney mayoral position say affordable housing is a critical issue, only some actually want to make the changes needed to make it so.
One of those is Rachel Evans, a disability worker and public housing activist, who is the mayoral candidate for Socialist Alliance.
Evans told a candidate forum on August 23 that the city could be a world leader in climate sustainability and housing. She said it could spend its “considerable reserves” of $763 million on “running the city for people, not profit”.
“Mayor Clover Moore outsourced an eye-watering $1.6 billion in house services, and cried commercial in-confidence when asked about it. We don’t even know which companies will be overspending ratepayers’ money,” Evans said.
The meeting, organised by Pyrmont Action and Friends of Ultimo, drew about 60 residents. All candidates, except Sean Masters from the Libertarian Party NSW, spoke about affordable housing.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore, Greens Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore, Independent Councillor Yvonne Weldon, Labor’s Zann Maxwell, Independent Susan Ritchie and We Love Sydney Independent Sam Danieli also gave their pitches.
Ellsmore said council had the ability to spend money on housing and should buy homes to house vulnerable people.
Weldon said council could buy the boarding houses in Selwyn Street, Paddington, which are currently under threat from demolition. “Clover Moore has voted twice against buying Selwyn Street Boarding homes,” she said.
These boarding homes are home to 32 residents, who face eviction if they lose a case against the council’s development application, now with the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales.
Evans said housing affordability is one of the most pressing issues for residents and her campaign.
“This city is the second-most expensive place in the world to live”, she said. Council needs to “take more responsibility” given that 400 people, on average, are homeless every night while thousands of dwellings lie empty.
“Council has a target of 15% social and affordable housing by 2036. But it won’t meet this while it panders to developers and community housing providers.
“Affordable housing is not affordable and social housing is really the privatisation of public land.” She also said council needs to push Labor for public co-operative housing, where rents can be set at 25% of people’s income.
She said council needs to raise its developer levy on commercial and residential developments from 3% to 30%, as many European cities have done.
[Jim McIlroy is a retired public servant and unionist and one of the Socialist Alliance candidates in City of Sydney, which includes Andrew Chuter, environment activist and academic unionist at University of Sydney; Adam Hadad, Algerian migrant and activist in the City of Sydney for Palestine; Dr Coral Wynter, environmental campaigner in Move Beyond Coal and 350.org; and Suelin McCauley, early childhood educator and Palestine movement activist. The NSW council elections are on September 14. To help out contact Socialist Alliance.]