National Shelter and Shelter New South Wales today responded to protests towards public housing developments in Sydney, claiming that the ‘Not in my backyard’ approach was obstructing government’s goal of achieving an affordable and fair housing system in Australia.
While recognising the need for a balanced planning system, Executive Officer of Shelter NSW, Mary Perkins said that the anti-public housing sentiment was doing more harm than good in communities.
‘More and more households are requiring public housing, and to provide some security for those facing homelessness, governments need to build public housing where it is needed most’, Mary Perkins said.
Following on from the launch of the National Shelter policy platform, Housing Australia Affordably, Chairperson of National Shelter Adrian Pisarski is disappointed that negative attitudes towards public and affordable housing are still rife in communities.
‘Given the vast improvements that have been made to public housing dwellings over the years as well as the increasing rate of homelessness among families, it is frustrating that people are still unable to prioritise affordable housing’, Mr Pisarski said.
‘We are all vulnerable to homelessness and housing stress. If any of these protesters were to experience homelessness at some time in their life, I’m sure they would be relying on the availability of public housing’, he concluded.
Housing Australia Affordably is available for downloading on the National Shelter website: www.shelter.org.au.
Enquiries:
Mary Perkins, Executive Officer, Shelter NSW: 0419 919 091 (m), 9267 5733 ext. 14
Jasmine McCormack, Communications Officer, National Shelter: 0430 227 787
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