What? Panel discussion and community forum
When? 5.30pm – 7.30pm Friday 24th September, 2021
Details:
Brisbane Free University is collaborating with Fern Collective and Jonathan Sri, Councillor for the Gabba to host a public discussion on the housing crisis and the strategies, possibilities and limits of agitating for more just housing on stolen land.
Inspired by the research of ‘Housing Justice in Unequal Cities,’ https://unequalcities.org/about/ detailing the housing crisis and tenant organising across multiple global cities we are excited to hold a public discussion on the tensions, barriers, strategies and possibilities for housing justice here in Meanjin, and across so-called Australia.
Tenant rights here in Queensland are some of the worst in the world. With increasingly punitive measures against tenants, and landlords and property agents facing no accountability for evictions, people are too easily being forced into homelessness or precarious and unsafe housing situations. Folks already facing the exhausting toll of having to pay rent to non-responsive landlords, may also have to face racist, transphobic, ableist and discriminatory barriers or exclusion due to their ex-incarcerated or migratory status.
We are living in an unjust system which continuously benefits and maximises profit for those who own private property and upholds fictional colonial housing laws. Police, landlords, real estate agents and government departments coordinate to gentrify neighbourhoods and create an environment of easy eviction. We must then also create solidarity and organising capacity for tenants to resist such forces.
Through a combination of online interviews and live panelists from disability justice network, tenant union and anti-eviction organisers, First Nations activists and ex-incarcerated folk, we hope to dive in deep into the intersections of housing justice, colonisation, incarceration and state violence.
The event will begin at 5.30pm with a Welcome to Country from Uncle Shane Coghill, and a political introduction to this region. We’ll then hear from Councillor for the Gabba Ward Jonathan Sri, contextualising the current housing crisis and the need for urgent organising and strategising around housing in Meanjin.
At 6pm, we’ll start the panel discussion, facilitated by the brilliant Dr. Natalie Osborne, and including Uncle Shane Coghill, Associate Professor Chelsea Watego, Kevin Yow Yeh and Samantha Bond.
After the panel, we’ll open for a broad community conversation and Q and A with all the speakers, and then close with some words from an organiser from the South East Queensland Union of Renters (SEQUR).
Accessibility information
We will have a live-stream of the event with AI transcriptions provided after the event.
AUSLAN interpretation will also be provided.
A table with light snacks and drinks will also be provided.
Childcare available on site with an experienced childcare worker, and children are welcome to participate in the event in whatever way they would like.
From the front footpath there is a straight and flat path to the front door. The entrance has a double door – accessible to wheelchairs and other mobility devices. The hall has a large open space, so wide distances will be provided between chairs and rows. There are no stairs. The toilets are left to the entrance of the hall. There is a separate disabled toilet.
The venue can be accessed by bus routes 199, 60 and 192. Limited street parking is available. There are no car parks onsite.
If you need any further information regarding the venue feel free to send a message or call 0434728442