Abolish private property

‘Abolish private property‘ – Karl Marx
“Burn money” – Joe Geia singing at WERC circa 1980, dispensing with several volumes of Capital by Karl Marx.

Not everyone benefits from housing speculation, only those with sufficient money to own a house can do that. That is roughly two thirds of the population (67%). The renters (32%) miss out plus they are penalised by increased rents as property values are inflated by speculation, higher interest rates and a globalised economy.

There was a time in Brisbane when the Lord Mayor and his councillors would rezone the land that they had previously bought and then make a profit by selling the land or developing it themselves and charging increased rent. One such mayor was Clem Jones who was one of the wealthiest Labor Party politicians in Australian history. Clem ended up owning half of Carina. People at the local bowls club swore by Clem they reckoned he was one of the best landlords in the district. He could afford to be. From memory, I think his final estate was worth over $600M!

Now it’s the Premier’s and the Mayor’s maaates that profit by re-zoning and land speculation.

Not since the northern freeway protests in Brisbane in the 1970s has there been so much interest in housing or lack of it. In those days we used to socialise our poverty by living in share houses often at the mercy of a landlord who could evict you. Now there is an acute shortage of affordable housing. SEQUR, the tenants rights group is trying to do something about it and will be protesting landlord’s housing summit put on by the government and private enterprise at the Brisbane Convention and Entertainment Centre (BCEC) this week. We include here with thanks an excerpt from 4ZZZ’s Workers Power show for the discussion they present on this issue. – Ian Curr Ed., 19 October 2022.

Protest the Landlord’s housing summit

Bill Storey-Smith (Workers Power): We’ve got from the wonderful, the one of the best acronym in well, you could (say) politics but you could call in Australia SEQUR. So that’s s e q u r, which stands for southeast Queensland union of renters. And we’ve got Ollie joining us. Welcome Ollie.

THURSDAY 20 Oct 22 AT 9 AM
Protest the Landlords’ Housing Summit
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
133 Grey St, South Brisbane QLD 4101, Australia
Event by SEQUR – South East Queensland Union of Renters
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre …

The state government has called a “housing summit” to address the housing crisis, a conference where REIQ (the landlord union), the Master Builders Association, and the Premier (landlord), Deputy Premier (landlord) and Housing Minister (landlord) will all come together to discuss “solutions”.
This summit is a farce—and we’re going to picket it.

We call on all renters and those who stand in solidarity with us to picket this Landlord’s Summit.
Rather than taking action to help renters, this summit will be nothing but another opportunity for all the variety of parasites that benefit from the exploitation of tenants to manipulate this crisis for their own benefit.

The conditions for tenants will not be improved by a summit of politician landlords, the REIQ, the Master Builders Association and other business interests.

Our conditions are only going to improve because we’ve fought for them. And fighting is exactly what we intend to do.

We call on all renters and those who stand in solidarity with us to picket this landlords’ summit. Let’s show the QLD government and all those that support the profits of landlords over our right to housing that they can have their summits because our power resides in collective action on the street.

Spread the word and join the struggle!
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre