44 Flats United are appalled that the Allan State Government has decided to continue with its plan to demolish all of Melbourne’s 44 public housing high-rise flats. Seven elder buildings have been announced for displacement and destruction despite the horrors already inflicted on us and our communities since this program began in 2023.
This announcement of tranche 3 confirms that the Allan Government is committed to the wholesale destruction of public housing in Victoria as we know it and represents a deepening of their desire to socially cleanse Melbourne’s inner suburbs despite sustained and strong opposition by residents and our communities and calls by the parliamentary inquiry to halt all plans.
44FU are not fooled by the government’s revised, friendlier approach to displacement. Providing more notice of when displacements will occur and introducing the new ‘hand-in-hand’ peer support program still amounts to the same program of forced displacement and destruction. Our communities will still be forced out of our homes, important social infrastructure that we have built and relied on for generations will be destroyed, and future generations will no longer be able to call public housing home.
Since October 2023, Homes Victoria’s displacement officers have used lies and coercive tactics to force us to leave our homes in Flemington, North Melbourne, Richmond and South Yarra. Some members of our communities moved out because they were led to believe that their building was simply being renovated and that they’d be moving back into the same public housing home.
Many residents have been displaced into ‘community housing’, where the rent and utility bills are astronomically higher and community is fractured.
44FU have been told stories of residents resorting to a diet of instant noodles, showering less frequently, and hand washing clothes to cut down on utility bills to make ends meet. Some senior members in our community have been locked out of their homes or been unable to visit friends because of the inaccessibility of the intercom and security systems in the new community housing builds. This is the fate the State Government now wants to impose on seven elder buildings.
Concerningly, some families we know have only recently been moved into these seven buildings after being displaced from other high-rises slated for destruction. They will now be forced to move again. How many times will the Allan government forcibly displace our community before we can have some housing security?
We, as current and former public housing residents, urge the Allan government to reverse its plan immediately. The more tranches you add, the more lives are impacted and invariably the stronger our campaign will become.