Housing campaigners to stand for Socialist Alliance in Heffron, Balmain
“NSW Premier Chris Minns’ demolition government is prioritising developer profits over tackling the housing affordability crisis,” said Rachel Evans, Socialist Alliance candidate for Heffron in the March 2027 state election.
Evans has long campaigned to stop the demolition of public housing in Waterloo, Glebe and other sites across the state.
“Despite promising before the 2023 election to reverse privatisations and stop the sell-off and demolition of public housing at Waterloo, Labor has continued with the previous Coalition government’s plan.
“Community campaigning in Waterloo has managed to prevent the demolition of homes and eviction of their neighbours for more than 10 years, but last year, 150 households in Waterloo were given eviction notices, and another 100 were given notices in early April.
“It makes no sense to demolish homes in the middle of a housing crisis — we desperately need more public homes.”
Isaac Nellist, a renter and teaching student at the University of Sydney, said he had seen firsthand the impact of rising rents on young people. “Friends of mine have had to cut back on meals, drop out of study and move further and further away from their communities and support networks just to afford rising rents.
“We need to freeze rents for at least two years so that people have a chance to catch up,” said Nellist, who is standing for the Socialist Alliance in Balmain.
Nellist is involved in campaigning with the Better Future Coalition, a collective of housing and resident groups that are committed to stopping pro-developer plans put forward by state and local Labor governments.
“While claiming TOD and LMR are solutions to the housing crisis, Labor’s housing policy is in reality a total capitulation to developers. They want to squeeze as much profit as they can out of what should be a human right.
“At Warren Road, in Marrickville, tenants are facing eviction from their affordable apartments so that a luxury high-rise can be built instead.
“The new Bays West development on Glebe Island only includes a pitiful 10% affordable housing on a site that is 100% publicly owned land. Any housing on that site should be public, with ample green space and amenities.”
Evans said public housing tenants in Waterloo had been betrayed by Labor. “Despite promising before the 2023 election to reverse privatisations and stop the sell-off and demolition of public housing at Waterloo, Labor has continued with the previous Coalition government’s plan.
“Community campaigning in Waterloo has managed to prevent the demolition of homes and eviction of their neighbours for more than 10 years, but last year, 150 households in Waterloo were given eviction notices, and another 100 were given notices in early April.
“It makes no sense to demolish homes in the middle of a housing crisis — we desperately need more public homes.”
Nellist said the far right is capitalising on the housing affordability and cost-of-living crises to drive racist agendas. “We are seeing the rise of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation in the polls, and the major parties and the media are rushing to repeat the claim that ‘mass migration’ is driving the housing crisis, despite a lack of evidence.
“The real driver of the housing crisis is the billionaire property investors and mega-landlords who are hoarding housing stock. Data shows that property investors account for almost 40% of the housing market.
“We are seeing the impact in communities, with homes and shopfronts sitting empty while investor landlords wait to collect their capital gains.
Socialist Alliance is campaigning for at least 30% public housing in all new developments, an end to the forced evictions, sell-offs and demolition of public housing and an emergency plan to build 100,000 new public homes over five years.
“We need to defend and refurbish the public housing we already have, and start building new, beautiful, public homes,” Evans said. “We want the state government to convert private dwellings left vacant for 12 months to public housing and put a vacancy tax on Airbnbs.
“The profits-first system ignores people’s needs. We have an overloaded health system, deteriorating school infrastructure and rising homelessness.
“We are committed to organising with others, in communities and workplaces, to challenge the power of the corporations and their loyal servants in parliament.”
[Find out more about the campaign here.]
Rachel Evans is standing for Socialist Alliance in Heffron.
Isaac Nellist is standing for Socialist Alliance in Balmain.
Paula Corvalan, Pip Hinman and Ben Radford are standing in the NSW Legislative Council. More to be announced.
Further information:
Rachel Evans 0403 517 266
Isaac Nellist 0468 526 096
Authorised by N. Spencer, 22-36 Mountain Street, Ultimo NSW 2007
