Mar 30th 2020

Eviction moratorium huge step for housing justice, more to do

The tireless work of tenants' unions, community advocates and the thousands of GetUp members who contacted their MPs last week has secured the Government’s move to place a six month moratorium on all rental evictions caused by financial hardship. But there’s still more work to do to ensure housing justice during the Covid19 crisis.

“This is a massive win for renters across the country who were worried about losing their homes during a major pandemic and an uncertain economy,” said GetUp Campaign Director Ed Miller.

“State and Territory governments must ensure the moratorium is extended to all types of renters, including a ban on no-grounds evictions. 

“Around the world governments are rising to the challenges with measures that would have been unthinkable a few short weeks ago. We congratulate Scott Morrison and state government leaders on having the political courage to rise above ideology and take the necessary steps to take care of people. But there’s still more work to do.

“Last week 15,000 GetUp members emailed and called their state housing ministers and federal MP’s over three days to protect renters facing eviction.

“A petition calling for no one to lose their accommodation during a public health crisis garnered more than 32,000 signatures in 48 hours as GetUp members swung in behind tenants union calls for greater protections.

“We also need an immediate guarantee that nobody will have their mortgage foreclosed by the big banks due to COVID-19 - with no exceptions - to protect mortgage-holders in this time of crisis. Banks must not be allowed to profit off a disaster,” said Ed Miller.

 

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