Residents from Melbourne's public housing towers have launched legal action to stop the Victorian Government demolishing their homes, as part of Labor's signature housing policy.
In September, the government announced plans to knock down and rebuild 44 of the aging high-rise public housing towers across the city, replacing them with larger-capacity buildings for public and private tenants.
The first five towers were set to be replaced by 2031, with buildings in Flemington, North Melbourne and Carlton slated as the first to go.
"They are out of date, they are crumbling, they need to go," then-premier Daniel Andrews said at the time.
Some residents from the towers have expressed their dismay at the plans, claiming their communities would be destroyed and that they were blindsided by the announcement.
Inner Melbourne Community Legal (IMCL) has now launched a class action lawsuit, and is seeking a Supreme Court ruling that the government's decision to demolish the towers was unlawful.
According to a writ filed with the court this week, the residents allege the government's decision breached the residents' human rights because it interfered with their homes, property rights and was not in the best interest of children.
The action was lodged on behalf of residents by IMCL.
Residents speak of emotional toll
The group is also challenging the legality of the cabinet's decision, arguing the process to relocate residents was rushed and lacked procedural fairness.
"There is a lack of clarity around the relocation process and guidelines being followed. IMCL has received contradictory information, which makes it difficult for our service to provide accurate and detailed legal advice to our clients," the legal service's chief executive Eliza Buggy said.
The lead plaintiff in the case is Barry Berih, a tenant of the public housing tower on Alfred Street in North Melbourne.
"The decision has taken an emotional and physical toll on me and my community. The government didn't consult with us or tell us about the decision. We found out from the media," Mr Berih said in a statement.
"We are still being kept in the dark. The government keeps telling public housing residents that they have plans, but they still haven't told us what the plans are.
"I don't know where I am going to be living or where I might end up, and the government isn't giving us the information we need to make decisions."
A government spokesperson said it knocked on "every single door across the towers to make sure every resident has the support they deserve and their questions answered".
"This project is a long-term one that will occur in stages and we’re working with residents and community one step at a time, every step of the way and in a culturally sensitive and appropriate way," it said.
It said the works were needed as the towers "fail against noise, sustainability, waste and recycling, bedroom area dimensions, room depth, ventilation, private open space, accessibility and minimum amenity standards".
The government is yet to file its legal defence in the courts.
Concerns it could be the end of public housing
The rebuild is expected to triple the number of residents that can live in the state's public housing towers, from 10,000 to 30,000 by 2051.
But there has been criticism that the state's public housing overhaul is dumping public housing in favour of community and social housing projects, run by the private sector.
Of particular concern is that private developers will be part of the rebuilds, selling much of the old property off to the private market.
The Victorian Greens are backing the class action over concerns the changes may be the death knell for public housing.
"There are over 120,000 people on the public housing wait list in Victoria yet this government's solution is to knock down all of our towers and hand the majority of the land over to private developers with no commitment to rebuild public housing,'' party leader Samantha Ratnam said.
"People who have called these towers home for decades and do not want to be displaced from their community.
"The Greens won't accept the contempt Labor is showing for public housing. If this demolition and privatisation goes ahead it could mean the end of public housing in Victoria."
In a separate lawsuit, about 2,500 public housing tenants agreed to accept compensation payments from the government over their treatment during hard lockdowns in July 2020.
The residents claimed they were unlawfully detained, however the government insisted the strict measures were necessary and rejected calls to provide an apology.