Students converge on NSW Parliament to call for affordable housing

Sofia

Angelini and Will Thorpe

Approximately 40 protesters gathered outside NSW Parliament House on Friday evening to call for more affordable housing. Organised by the NUS’ Get a Room – Students for Affordable Housing campaign, the protest brought together a number of activist groups across UNSW, Macquarie and USyd.

The rally was chaired by UNSW SRC Education Officer Cherish Kuehlmann – arrested in February for “aggravated trespass” while protesting inside the Reserve Bank of Australia. – who led initial chants demanding action. Summer Hill Greens candidate Izabella Antoniou lamented the state of the property market for marginalised communities, remarking that “First Nations communities are being further dispossessed on their own land.”

“We are seeing people turfed out of their homes through triple-digit rent hikes. There are lines down the block just to wait to inspect unsuitable, untenable, unliveable apartments full of issues like mould, that’s just the start.”

Protestors marched from NSW Parliament to the Reserve Bank of Australia building, finally rallying at the Property Council of Australia on Barrack Street.

SRC Education Officer Yasmine Johnson expressed the Education Action Group’s desire to galvanise action.

“We’re hoping to mobilise young people to fight for housing justice, and to draw attention to the issue more generally. We want caps on rental prices, an end to no-fault evictions, serious expansion of public housing, a commitment to low-cost student housing from universities, and more,” said Johnson.

“We’re in the middle of a cost of living crisis which in particular has seen rental prices skyrocket.