Greens candidate for Heffron Philipa Veitch spoke at yesterday's community rally to Save Mascot Towers and called on whoever wins government at the next election to buy out the owners of apartments at Mascot Towers and repair and convert the site to be used as public, social and affordable housing.
Quotes attributable Phillipa Veitch, Greens candidate for Heffron and Randwick City Councillor:
"The residents of Mascot Towers were forced to evacuate their homes after building defects made the building too unsafe to live in. After four long years they've had enough.
"Liberal government policy failures have paved the way for developers to sell substandard and unsafe homes to unsuspecting residents while reaping windfall profits.
"It's long past time to call BS on the Liberal state government who continue to let developers call the shots and who've shown time and again that they simply don't care about NSW residents in times of need.
"As the Greens candidate for Heffron I'm proud to support the residents of Mascot Towers who have suffered enough.
"The Greens support buy-out of all Mascot Tower apartments and the redevelopment of the site for public and affordable housing. This can be a win-win for the affected residents and the people of NSW who are in desperate need of genuine public and affordable housing in our inner city suburbs," Phillipa said.
As stated by Cate Faehrmann, NSW Greens MP and Planning spokesperson:
"The Mascot Towers disaster was a result of poor government regulation, so the Government needs to step up and take responsibility for the situation they have placed these homeowners into," said Cate Faehrmann.
"There are 133 units that could house upwards of 250 people. The Government should repair the building and use it as public, social and affordable housing.
"The Government may have finally introduced legislation to tighten up regulation of the industry but it still has a responsibility to clean up its mess and support the owners who are left financially ruined by historical poor building practices.
"How many other apartment complexes will suffer the same fate as Mascot Towers? People who own apartments built in the last 2 decades should not live in fear that they will end up in the same situation with a massive mortgage and a worthless apartment," said Cate Faehrmann.
Quotes attributable Jenny Leong MP, Greens Member for Newtown and NSW Greens spokesperson on Housing:
"Sydney needs a massive investment in public and affordable housing - this disastrous situation for so many, could be immediately remedied by the NSW State Government stepping up and buying back and fixing this site.
"Our community is crying out for housing solutions - and so putting 133 apartments into public hands to relieve the housing stress faced by those in our city - and giving over 250 people a safe, secure, accessible and affordable place to call home is a no brainer.
"The Greens are calling on Perrottet and Minns to step up and back in the community and the Greens solution to this ongoing scandal.
"For those on the never ending public housing waiting list, we know that there's virtually no housing to be had in the inner city or surrounding area - this is a solution that is one small step to addressing this," Jenny said.
