Social Democracy and Housing. The role of government in housing through history and how the past can guide the future. With Brandon Saul and Tracey Mackie.
June 19, 2024, 6pm. Laneway Studio, Byron Community College
In collaboration with Byron Community College, Mark is in conversation with some special guests for captivating discussions on current hot topics.
About the Conversation …
Housing is in crisis around the world, nowhere is it worse than Australia. Join me and two people who deal with the housing crisis at the coal face for an honest and open discussion of where we are at. Tracey Mackie leads Momentum Collective who try to address social housing with limited funding and housing stock. Brandon Saul heads up Creative Capital who deliver innovative projects to meet housing and other community needs. How do they see the realities of how we house our communities locally and beyond now, for the next generation and beyond? Before the event I will write a short essay on the history of housing in Australia and how we got here. Our questions for the event will include:
Can we go ever back to the future and learn from our mistakes?
When did government do its best work in delivering housing?
What impact did the Howard government ‘reforms’ have on housing?
Where are we now? What does housing supply and demand look like?
What projects can we develop to meet our complex housing needs?
How will the Housing Australia Future Fund help us?
What will the Social Housing Accelerator offer?
What emergency measures should we be working on now?
An anecdote. Around 2010 I was working in Dubbo one day and the sun caught a brass plaque on a block of flats. I read that in 1955 Clive Evatt the NSW Labor housing minister - brother of Doc Evatt the federal opposition leader - travelled all the way to open this humble six apartment building just off the town centre. Why? Because housing was at the heart of our government and democracy at the time. This was good government delivering a stake in society for the people who lived there. The plaque opens the story of how far we have strayed from where we need to be today.
See you at Byron Community College Campus, Cnr Gordon & Burringbar Sts Mullumbimby. Doors 6pm. Conversation 6.30pm. Q&A 7.30pm. Ends 8pm.
Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/conversations-with-mark-fair-go
Mark Swivel
8 June 2024