Squatters collective calls for rent strike

A group of squatters who were evicted earlier this month from an unused building owned by Marrickville Council are calling for a rent strike, in protest at escalating rents in the area.

The Centrepiece Queer Arts Collective squatted the old nurses’ quarters on Lilydale Street in Marrickville for a month until they were served with a quit notice by Council.

Evicted squatter Huck Spin called for a rent strike as a way of curbing out-of-control rents, saying the gentrification of the area had caused a loss of social diversity in Marrickville by making it unaffordable to people on low incomes.

“I want people to stop paying their rent and demand that the rent goes down, because it is getting ridiculous,” Huck said.

“Queers build a vibrant community in Newtown and Marrickville which becomes a commodity, and the rich people move in and we lose out.

“Some people have the privilege of paying $500 a week for a one-bedroom apartment, but they are pushing people from their own communities out, and it’s not acceptable.”

The squatters applied for a caretaker’s lease of the old nurses’ quarter, which has remained empty and unused for the past 15 years.

But Marrickville Council rejected the lease application on the basis the building was contaminated with asbestos, and did not pass fire safety standards.

Greens councillor Fiona Byrne said audits carried out in 2007 and 2008 had deemed the building unsafe, and it would be “morally corrupt” to leave people there knowing they were at risk.

Yet the squatters said they were still waiting for a formal inspection of the asbestos to be carried out.

They also organised an informal fire safety inspection and were informed that the building would be safe with just the addition of exit signs and smoke alarms.

Independent councillor Morris Hanna claimed there were other buildings in the Marrickville Council area that also would fail to pass safety inspections, and it was arbitrary that the squatters were being evicted.

Nevertheless, he did not support the squatters’ attempts to remain on the site.

Meanwhile, Council unanimously passed a motion put forward by Cr Sam Byrne that all unused buildings in Marrickville be assessed for their liveability as affordable housing.

Cr Hanna noted the number of buildings available was very small in any case.

Cr Byrne told attendees at the May Council meeting that staff had been working to find alternative housing solutions for the members of the Centrepiece collective.

“My understanding is that the Metro Community Housing Group has offered solutions up to 12 months, I believe, so not short-term crisis accommodation, but good medium- to long-term accommodation,” he said.

The squatters said Metro Community Housing had only added them to a 12-month waiting list for accommodation and they were still homeless.

Huck Spin said a rent strike could be used as a way to reclaim Newtown and Marrickville for a diverse range of people, and not just for those on high incomes.

“I think we need to go back to these radical ways and start pushing for affordable accommodation,” Huck said.

by Liz Cush