Activists gathered outside Homes Victoria on October 19 to demand an end to the privatisation of housing and for more public housing to be built.
The rally, organised by the Geelong Housing Action Group (GHAG), heard from a range of speakers, before signs with messages like “Homes not prisons” and “What ever happened to the ‘fair go’?” were posted on Homes Victoria’s front entrance.
People drew chalk messages on the footpath and outside nearby real estate agencies, such as “Stop increasing rents, we can’t afford to live”, “Housing is a human right”, “Stop profiting off shelter” and “People are homeless because of greed”.
Angela Carr, GHAG member and Socialist Alliance candidate for Geelong in the Victorian elections, said public housing stock has dramatically decreased over the past 20 years.
“The big housing build is only promising 12,000 properties, but there are over 110,000 people on housing waiting lists in Victoria,” she said.
“The sums don’t add up. We need a large scale public housing build of 100,000 properties and to regulate and force developers to hand over 20% of developments to public housing.
“Renters need better protections, immediate rent freezes and rental caps.”
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