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Another victory for the tenants movement! SEQUR member David was not evicted, thanks to union mobilisation, the grassroots community, and left-wing solidarity.
On Monday of this week, about a hundred people including dozens of SEQUR members, David’s neighbours, and members of other unions turned up and drew a line in the sand and said “NO!” to evictions. This is a huge win for the tenant’s movement in South-East Queensland. We have shown that our numbers and our solidarity do have the power to stop these sorts of evictions.
The warrant of possession which gave police the power to remove David from his home expired on Monday evening which means that he is safe, for now.
We are waiting to see if the Department of Housing will continue to pursue this matter, or if they will back down and leave David in peace in his home. They may still return to QCAT to seek a new warrant of possession, but in the meantime our members are committed to doing whatever it takes to make sure that whatever grounds they were relying on for their case are no longer relevant.
As the rental crisis continues, evictions are likely to become more common – and that means that eviction defences will become more common too. If the Department of Housing tries to evict David again, we will remobilise.
Join the South-East Queensland Union of Renters here.
Sam Adams is chair of UQ Union council, and secretary of SEQUR.
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