Wednesday, 1 May 2024

Housing

Samantha RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (17:20): (854) My adjournment matter today is for the Minister for Housing, and my ask is that the government compensates Sergei Pavlov for the loss of his possessions, which Homes Victoria was responsible for, and for the pain and suffering the government has inflicted upon him. During the community’s fight to save the Barak Beacon housing estate from privatisation, I met with Sergei. Sergei’s mum Tatiana had lived at the Barak Beacon public housing estate in Port Melbourne for over 40 years. Due to a number of health conditions she was experiencing, Sergei moved in with her a number of years prior to provide the care she required.

Following that, Homes Victoria began pressuring residents to leave so that they could demolish their homes as part of the ground lease program that would see no public housing rebuilt at the site and the majority of private dwellings being built on this public land. This program of privatisation by stealth led to the eventual eviction of Margaret Kelly as well.

Many residents had been living at Barak Beacon for decades. This was truly their home, and Tatiana was one of those people. Homes Victoria’s solution to her situation was to offer her alternative housing that was completely inaccessible for her needs as a wheelchair user. Sergei told me at the time about being shown home after home by Homes Victoria, only for the agreements to fall through, the offer to be withdrawn and them to have to go back to the drawing board. He took unpaid time off as a contractor to do Homes Victoria’s work for his mother’s care.

Processes like these make it clear that little thought had been given to the wellbeing of public housing residents in the midst of the planned demolition of Melbourne’s public housing estates. Tragically, Tatiana passed away during this ordeal, and I understand that while she had been in hospital, Homes Victoria believed they had found suitable accommodation for her. On the night that they were to attend the hospital to get her to sign the lease, she passed away. I believe it is fair to say that the mental and physical stress she endured from the pressure to leave her home and her treatment by Homes Victoria very likely contributed to her passing.

While he was processing the devastating passing of his mother, to add to his distress, Sergei was forced to leave Barak Beacon because Homes Victoria did not acknowledge Sergei as Tatiana’s carer. With the intense pressure to leave, he was not able to take any of his possessions with him from his mum’s unit. Sergei told me that to have the grief for one’s parent while losing all of one’s belongings accumulated over a lifetime and then not to be shown one ounce of compassion from Homes Victoria has been absolutely devastating and has only compounded the grief he was going through.

Sergei’s story is emblematic of the callousness that this Labor government has demonstrated since it announced its plans to privatise and outsource public housing across Victoria. From the beginning there has been an abject lack of understanding and care shown for residents and their families, and if the government follows through with its plans to demolish the rest of the 44 public housing towers, I have no doubt we will be hearing more tragic stories like Sergei’s. It is for this reason I ask the Minister for Housing to investigate this matter and compensate Sergei for the loss of his belongings and the pain and suffering caused by your government and Homes Victoria.