The group of construction unions,representing 85,000 workers,last year vowed to shut out Labor MPs from Big Build projectsif duck hunting was banned,and in 2022 agreed to a green ban that would have stopped workersredeveloping the John Curtin Hotel in Carlton. Both campaigns were ultimately successful.
Zach Smith,the CFMEU national secretary and building industry group spokesman,said the current public housing proposal was “way too timid”,as tens of thousands of people remained on the public housing waitlist.
CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith at Labor’s national conference last year.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“The government says social housing numbers will be up 10 per cent by the time construction ends,but frankly,that indicates they’re just not takingVictoria’s housing crisis seriously enough,” Smith said.
“It is the united view of Victoria’s construction unions that building new homes on these large inner-city parcels of land is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to alleviate the housing crisis.”
Construction unions attending the weekend’s conference are also expected to put forward their own motions related to public housing.
Loading
Labor for Housing co-convener and co-founder Julijana Todorovic said the issue was contentious,but the group was confident of reaching a compromise with the government.
“This is a compassionate government that cares about people’s homes,but the current proposal for 10 per cent uplift of social housing is not good enough,” she said.
Todorovic said existing government sites that used a ground lease model had increased social housing dwellings by between 31 and 46 per cent. These contracts lease land to companies to build,operate and maintain housing on government land for 40 years,but the land does not change ownership.
“It is critical that the land remains in public hands,otherwise it will be for future generations to buy back the assets like we’re seeing with the SEC,” Todorovic said.
“We also need the federal government to come to the party on this. These sites are the perfect projects for their$11 billion[housing] commitment announced Saturday.”
Julijana Todorovic,the co-convener of Labor For Housing,at a CFMEU rally last year.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The draft motion demands that the state government “deliver significantly more than a 10 per cent uplift of social housing dwellings across the 44 sites,with an aim to increase the number of social housing dwellings in the first and second tranches of redevelopment by 50 per cent”.
It calls for an additional 8000 social housing dwellings across Victoria in addition to the 8000 committed in Labor’s housing statement.
But it stops short of calling for a rethink on the contentious proposal to demolish all 44 towers by 2051.
A Victorian government spokeswoman said the redevelopment is the largest urban renewal project in Australian history and will boost social housing by at least 10 per cent.
“It will deliver modern,fit-for purpose housing that every Victorian can be proud to call a home,” the spokeswoman said. “The Big Housing Build is already delivering more than 12,000 new homes across Victoria with more than 9,300 homes underway or complete - this is a 10 per cent uplift in the total number of social housing stock in Victoria.”
Tuesday is the deadline to submit motions that will be brought forward at the state Labor conference.
Motions aboutIsrael and Palestine were put forward at last year’s conference,but the issue is expected to come to a head again,with tensions rising since Israel began bombing Gaza in response to Hamas’ October 7 attack. Protests have since erupted around the world and Australia.
Two Labor sources,speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak publicly,said there was internal division,particularly within Labor’s Left,about whether deals would be sought to limit debate over the issue. They said any push to limit debate would likely frustrate unions and rank and file members.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories,analysis and insights.Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.