Hundreds marched through the streets of Marrickville on October 26 to show their opposition to the Inner West Labor councillors' support for a pro-developer “Fairer Futures” plan.
The plan includes demolishing large 鶹ý of low-cost housing, to be replaced by 31,000 expensive private developments, with only 2% allocated as “affordable housing”.
Speakers at the Better Futures Coalition rally pointed out that even though the plan allocates a small number of affordable housing, it is not affordable as it is set at 80% of market rent — out of range for those on low to average incomes.
In addition, the “affordable” units are only slated to remain affordable for 15 years.
Protesters marched from Marrickville Town Hall to 50-52 Warren Road, Marrickville, one of the first sites set for demolition. Seventeen households are facing eviction, but residents are resisting the plans.
Speakers included Warren Road resident Rome, Margo Cashman from Save Dully, Inner West Greens Councillor Olivia Barlow, Emma Norton from NSW Socialists, David Pink from Labor for Ending Homelessness and Rachel Evans from Action for Public Housing.
They called for the plans to be scrapped, for real community consultation and good quality public housing built on vacant sites around the Inner West.
Evans said the Fairer Future plan is an “attempted developer take over” of the Inner West. “It’s the next step in Labor’s push to privatise and commodify housing.”
She detailed the attacks on public housing across the city, including at Waterloo and Waterloo South, Glebe, Mascot, Maroubra and Kingsford.
“We are in an unprecedented housing crisis … 150,000 people are on the public housing waiting list, 750,000 are in urgent need of housing security, 10,000 people are becoming homeless every month,” Evans said.
According to the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare, an average of five people per week died while accessing homelessness services between 2012–2023.
Barlow said Inner West Labor councillors had “dismissed, ignored or outright made fun of” those with concerns about the lack of public housing in the Fairer Futures plan.
“Labor and other pro-developer voices have misrepresented those with concerns as out-of-touch ‘NIMBYS’ [not-in-my-backyard] trying to stand in the way of progress,” she said.
Barlow and other speakers that more housing supply would reduce prices. There are more homes for person than ever before and new housing has far outpaced population growth in the last 10 years.
“Privatisation does not work for hospitals, transport, aged care, childcare or utilities,” Evans said. “It certainly does not work for housing.”
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