FOR
PUBLIC HOUSING, GREEN SPACE AND LIVABLE CITIES!
21-08-2016 – Concrete jungles, unaffordable housing,
expensive public transport, the privatisation and commercialisation of more and
more public space, traffic congestion – all this has unfortunately become the
norm for Brisbane for some years now. The imposing “West Village” development
in West End is scarcely different. Seven 15 storey high-density luxury
apartments are proposed by development corporations with no other agenda other
than to pocket themselves millions of dollars, and damn the consequences, for
they do not live anywhere near the monstrosity built.
Local State Member of Parliament, the Australian Labor
Party’s ALP Jackie Trad, has, after objections, initiated the process of
“calling in” the West Village development.[1] But this does not at all
mean that the project will be stopped – it could be merely a mechanism by which
an ALP politician can claim that they have carried out “public consultation”.
The ALP, along with the Liberal National Party (LNP) are bought and paid
operatives for the system which creates unsustainable development in the first
place. In fact, the entire parliamentary system, from the local council right
up to the Federal Government, is not a system of “representation”, but a system
of suppressing the right of working people to make political decisions.
The parliamentary apparatus is the sham political arm of
the capitalist system – the system of private production for private profit. At
the same time, privately organised production uses the social labour of the
working class to amass all the monetary gain, returning only enough to working
people the means to reproduce themselves – or not even that. This system has
been in recession for years in Australia, with no current signs of any kind of
recovery. Capital seeks an ever greater return on its rate of profit, and thus
will undertake projects which glean the highest rate of return – irrespective
of what working people and the communities in which they live actually need. Affordable
public housing, cheap or free public housing, green space and public parks and
amenities – capital pockets no profit from building or maintaining such needs
for working people.
Developments such as West Village are an example of the
contradiction between private property and social property. As long as the
Absoe Furniture site remains private property, the capitalist system will
allow, and is set up to enable, the private owners to do as they see fit –
short of a huge intervention by working people. Private property in land
underpins capitalism. Opposing this system is social property owned in common –
socialism. The struggle for rational social planning, for green space, for
public housing and public amenities, therefore, is ultimately a struggle
against private property. Such a struggle ultimately can only successfully be
waged as a working class struggle. A “community” campaign, due to the fact that
it appeals to all “locals” regardless of class, just won’t cut it.
Historically, where working people have waged such a
successful struggle which has resulted in victory, working people have reaped
the benefits. While in Australia we have governments of all stripes which have
privatised public housing, in the People’s Republic of China, their government
has embarked on an immense public housing program. By the end of 2014, the
Chinese government had supplied 40 million families with low-rent public
housing.[2] Housing in China is seen
as a responsibility of the
government. Or take the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK – referred
to by the Western media as “North Korea”). Its capital Pyongyang has a whopping
58 square metres of green space per
person[3], and is known for its 10
metre wide footpaths. Compare this to Brisbane, with a maximum of 4 square centimetres of green space per
person.[4]
The crucial difference is that, with all its
imperfections, socialism rules in China and the DPRK, whereas capitalism
remains unchallenged in Australia. Local struggles, such as the one against the
rapacious property developers, backed by the Brisbane City Council, seeking to
bury West End under an avalanche of luxury units, are important way before the
struggle advances to the stage of posing questions of the entire system. The
efforts of all those struggling to make Brisbane a livable city are welcome.
Yet even here class differences will become apparent. Residents and working
people will have a totally different conception of “livable” compared to Councillors,
developers, real estate agents and even small shopkeepers. They all see dollars
in their pockets, whereas as working residents desire a pleasant and amenable
place to reside for themselves and their families. In fact, the struggle for
livable cities is inseparable from the struggle for decent working conditions,
a lower cost of living, decent public transport and basic public services. With
the right strategy, a win in one area often means a win in others. Down with “West Village”!
ML Group
PO Box 66 Nundah
QLD 4012
E: mlgroup271@gmail.com
[3]
Willoughby, R., 2014, North Korea – The Bradt Travel Guide.
[4] https://prezi.com/ja61waahkmhx/green-space/
(15-08-16)
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