Action for Public Housing’s Rachel Evans Explains the Growing Support for Save Waterloo Encampment

After a decade of state governments threatening to tear down the Waterloo public housing estate and rip apart its community, property developers Stockland commenced works on Monday, 25 May 2026. But what workers on site hadn’t counted on was being met by Save Waterloo Encampment protesters, who were there to slow down the process and ultimately, prevent the destruction.

According to Rachel Evans from Action for Public Housing, the support for protests staged since 24 May and participation in the encampment has been phenomenal, to the point that the show of resistance to the New South Wales Labor government’s determination to hand over the public site to private developers has been so strong that it’s become infectious and a movement is growing.

So, what had appeared to government and developers alike, as a guaranteed stroll in to destroy yet another NSW public housing site and its community, with dubious promises of relocation and return to new homes somewhere down the track, is turning into a battle for Waterloo that housing justice advocates consider is becoming an increasingly feasible victory for the people.

And the Save Waterloo Encampment is certainly rattling NSW housing minister Rose Jackson. She’s told the housing activists to “please check” their “priorities” and their “perspectives”. Yet, on having done so, the protesters have again concluded that tearing down public housing during a housing and cost-of-living crisis is unreasonable, and it would be more practical to let residents stay housed.

Same project, same government, different packaging

Since 2005, successive NSW governments have been tearing down public housing, then handing over the land to developers, free-of-charge, to build new private housing estates that include some social housing. This began at a public housing site on Dharawal land in Minto in 2005. And the difference with social housing is it is usually owned and maintained by private not-for-profits.

This process had always involved a 70 percent private residence and 30 percent social housing mix. The initial 2015-announced NSW Coalition plan for Waterloo involved the 70/30 split. NSW Labor vehemently opposed the redevelopment plans back then. Indeed, right up until the March 2023 election, Labor in opposition promised residents to stick with them to keep their homes.

However, then the Minns government was voted into office, and newly appointed housing minister Rose Jackson, NSW member for Heffron Ron Hoenig and NSW premier Chris Minns all appeared before the press to announce a “step change” for the Waterloo redevelopment, as, no longer was it to be brought to a halt, but in fact, the Liberals’ plan was to go ahead with some extra trimmings.

In May 2023, Jackson stopped promising to end the destruction of the Waterloo housing estate, and started promising residents set to be evicted from their current homes with “the right to return” once construction is finished. But after years of making the shift seem more palatable for the public, Jackson is now straight out stating that the Waterloo estate community is “not functional”.

The major change NSW Labor made to the Waterloo redevelopment is that it now involves 50 percent private homes, 30 percent social housing and 20 percent affordable housing, which is housing capped at a lower rate than the usual market prices, is aimed at low to moderate income earners, and it is usually run by private not-for-profit community housing providers.

The battle for Waterloo

Currently, the Minns government and Stockland have their sights set on tearing down the Waterloo South part of the redevelopment site, which makes up 65 percent of the total estate. And whilst many residents have already been rehoused, there are still people living in their homes despite metal fencing having been erected to block off the area as a worksite.

NSW Socialist Alliance candidate for the seat of Heffron Rachel Evans has been a key campaigner in the battle for Waterloo, which has left 750 households in limbo for a decade, whilst successive governments toyed away at how to remove them.

The seat of Heffron encompasses the Waterloo public housing estate and its surrounds, with NSW Labor member for Heffron Ron Hoenig overseeing the destruction of the site.

Sydney Criminal Lawyers spoke to Save Waterloo Encampment organiser Rachel Evans about the contradictory positions NSW Labor took when in opposition and its neoliberal reimagining since taking office, the alternative to demolition, which would be doing the liveable dwellings up, as well as how the campaign to keep the residents housed is picking up exponentially right now.

The battle for Waterloo public housing estate, situated on Gadigal land in the Sydney inner city suburb has really been taking place for about a decade now.

But on Monday, 25 May 2026, the builders moved in to start tearing down 150 low-rise homes on Cope Street and George Street in Waterloo.

The project, however, will eventually involve more public housing being destroyed, including the large housing towers on Waterloo Green.

Rachel, you’ve been campaigning against this, alongside local residents, for a long time now. So, why is NSW Labor tearing down these buildings? Why do current residents oppose what is coming?

Ten years ago, the NSW Liberal Party made the announcement that they would demolish Waterloo. The Labor Party in opposition said that they opposed this.

Now NSW housing minister, Rose Jackson, said in opposition that it was a ‘social cleansing platform’ and vigorously spoke out against the proposal.

Ron Hoenig, who is the NSW Labor member for Heffron, which covers Waterloo, was very opposed as well.

For ten years, the Waterloo public housing community has been resisting the evictions and demolition.

This is just a landgrab, pure and simple. The developer wants access to this inner-city area to turn it into something like Zetland, with large towers and apartments.

One apartment block proposed for Waterloo is 30 storeys high. Stockland is the company that has won the contract for the entire project.

So, NSW Labor nefariously lied to the Waterloo population and the public housing estates on the eve of and the week before the 2023 NSW state elections, as they said to the tenants that if you vote for us Labor will save Waterloo.

But weeks into their new term, they told everyone that this was not the case and they were going to renew the housing estate.

This involved a grotesque press conference at the top of Waterloo, where Ron Hoenig said that Waterloo was a social experiment that had failed, and this announcement included Rose Jackson, and it is where they announced this privatisation proposal.

The other thing to note is that in 2022 the NSW Labor state conference determined not to privatise public housing and passed a unanimous motion committing to increase in aggregate form public housing across the state. That was 2022 in opposition. And it was reflected in the 2023 NSW Labor Platform.

Hoenig actually texted Waterloo residents the night before the 2023 state election, saying, “Vote for me. I will save your home.” We have those texts and we have the statements that were sent to residents stating that they would save their homes, and since then, we have been campaigning to let residents know, that this is actual eviction time.

Over the last, seven to eight months, 140 tenants have been evicted from Waterloo South. The government’s aim is to evict 750 tenants in the three storey walk-ups on Cope and George.

These three storey walk-ups are perfectly liveable. They are beautiful. They are double brick, so they’re warm in winter and cool in summer.

They do need some renovations, so that is what we have been demanding, that the government refurbishes and not demolish Waterloo.

There are a number of architects that have come forth with reports, outlining that would be a cheaper way of doing housing in Waterloo.

So, there is that factor. But the other one is that the government wants to give this land to developers.

The plan of the government and the developers plan is to build 3,300 apartments with 1,650 of these to be luxury private apartments and 1,650 are to be a mix of social and affordable.

The social and affordable apartments will be privately run. So, this is just privatising public lands.

The Save Waterloo Encampment is opposing the destruction of the houses and the redevelopment of the public housing estates. It commenced on Sunday, 24 May 2026. This was a day before workers moved in to start the demolition.

So, what does the protest camp comprise of?

We had a rally on Sunday, 24 May, as we knew the eviction teams were coming in on the 25th, and we set up camp on the corner of McEvoy and Cope Street, Waterloo.

We also had keys given to us by former tenants. So, we got into the building, as well as accessing the front yard area.

We set up an encampment in the front yard, which stopped the demolition teams in the morning. We also opened up the empty apartment, cleaned it out, and set up inside and outside.

NSW police and Homes NSW came and pulled our things out of the apartment on the Tuesday, and they told us not to trespass, but they said that we had a right to be in the front yard and that we had the right to political protest.

Then on Tuesday night, 26 May, Rebecca Pinkstone, the head of Homes NSW, also came to the campfire to deliver a message to the protesters, saying that we had the right to protest but then asked us not to stop tenants who want to leave from leaving.

Now, we are a tenant-led campaign. There is the incredible tenant Karen Brown and a number of other tenants are stepping forward to resist the evictions as well.

Of course, we wouldn’t stop tenants if they wanted to leave. We are going to support the tenants that don’t want to be evicted.

This is known as NSW Labor’s Waterloo renewal project. Housing minister Jackson said Waterloo public housing does not comprise of “functional communities”.

Jackson says those opposing the construction don’t understand the value of what is to be built, and she’s also raising the fact that a lot of social housing is to be constructed in the new residential development.

So, how do you respond to what the NSW housing minister is saying?

Waterloo is functioning. It is a tightknit, wonderful community. This is class slander.

Jackson is denigrating the Waterloo community because they are public housing tenants, and she wants to develop and sell off the land, because she doesn’t want the common person to identify with public housing tenants. So, she is slandering them.

The other thing is the NSW government is the landlord. There is a demolition by neglect strategy by the Labor Party in every state and by the Liberal Party in every state.

The major parties are the ones that have kept public housing in derelict condition. They are also the ones who have removed wraparound services for prisoners, who are being let out after prison and then being housed in Waterloo or at other public housing sites.

They are not offering enough wraparound services for people who are on drugs or are traumatised. These people aren’t getting enough support from the government. Victims of domestic violence or childhood trauma are neither being provided with services.

So, the issues in public housing exist, but they’re engineered by the government, and all we need to do, is treat people with respect and dignity, rather than throw them out of their homes and their community.

If a community isn’t functioning, as the government you would work out how to enable it to function. But what they actually want to do is be given a reason to hand over the land to property developers.

They will build luxury apartments, many of which will end up empty, as has been the case in Zetland, where they’ve built high rise building with apartments, with one being a third empty every night.

The reason for that is property investors don’t actually have to fill the apartments.

So, back to the housing minister. Do you consider there is some kind of contradiction in what Jackson was saying about the Liberals plan to redevelop Waterloo when in opposition and what she’s now saying about communities that are not functional?

It is totally contradictory. Jackson was condemning the Liberals for their renewal plan for Waterloo, calling it an act of social cleansing.

What has happened between now and then is, Rose Jackson and the Labor Party have moved from opposition to being in power and now they’ve gained office, they’re slandering public housing tenants like the last lot were.

But the thing is, we are in an unprecedented housing crisis. There are 918,000 mortgagees nationwide in stress and at risk of defaulting on their mortgages.

We have rents rising at extraordinary levels. It is $750 a week for a two bedroom in Waterloo. That is for private renting and that is on the cheap end of the scale.

Renting for young people in Sydney has risen by 20 percent over the last two years.

Landlords are getting an incredible handout from the government through tax concessions, which they haven’t ameliorated in the last budget.

That is capital gains tax and negative gearing, which involves $26 billion a year going to property investors and landlords, and we think this should be spent on beautiful and quality public housing, like the government in Austria does for Vienna.

Vienna is our model. Sixty percent of people live in beautiful public housing or council housing in Vienna. And there is very little homelessness there.

Instead, our government is just giving it over to developers and the market, which has proven to not deliver for people and that is because it is for profit.

I see that Stockland doesn’t have to pay for the land it’s redeveloping in Waterloo and the government keeps ownership of it.

Stockland is a stapled entity, which means they don’t have to pay any tax. We don’t know the details of the contract with Stockland, but it does involve a community housing provider and an Aboriginal housing provider.

The other thing that Rose Jackson said in an ABC 702 Radio interview is that the plan is not finalised. And that is the thing about these government plans, they keep moving the goalposts. One week it is 3,000 apartments in a 3-kilometre radius, the next week it is 3,300 apartments.

So, show us the contract. Is that contract set in stone? Mind you, we are opposing the contract as it stands.

We are demanding the government stops their demolition teams, and actually, today they have.

So, it has been a week of us putting our bodies on the line, in front of the demolition teams, and we stopped it last week at various sites, and today, they haven’t turned up.

So, that’s very positive. We had a good rally yesterday, Sunday, 31 May, as well. It brought the community together. The Aboriginal leaders were Uncle Dave Bell and Aunty Joan Bell.

Aunty Joan is an elder in the Redfern/Waterloo area, who has lived there for forty years. She gave a great speech. Uncle Dave Bell gave a great speech as well.

The Maritime Union of Australia has signed onto the campaign, as have UNSW SRC and USYD SRC, while the NTEU are going to pass a motion at the state level.

We are getting a lot of daily support with donations, and we have about 100 to 150 people coming through the campsite every day.

Oh really? 

Yeah. It is massive.

So, what about the residents? Why do they want to remain where they are? They have been told by the government that they have a right of return to the newly constructed residential estates. So, how do the residents consider this? 

Rose Jackson started to fence people in who were still in their homes on Monday, 25 May. About 10 to 15 tenants are still living in that area, which we are defending.

Jackson then came out and said they weren’t tenants, and instead, implied that they were squatters. We know they are tenants because we have spoken to all of them. One of them has lived there for 22 years.

They are telling tenants they are going to move back and therefore, have the right of return. But many of these tenants are quite elderly, have disabilities or are vulnerable – all of them are vulnerable.

In ten years, when the project is complete, some of them may be dead.

They will also be coming into new housing that segregates. We have seen this happen in the UK, but also at Sydney’s Millers Point, where big monstrous towers with social housing and private housing are built, but the social housing tenants can’t access the pools or the common areas.

So, the rich people get the good stuff, and the poor people are confined to other areas. They have to enter through the “poor doors” in these “joint mixed communities”.

Rose Jackson and Ron Hoenig have both been raising that it is better to have these mixed communities, but what this means again is that poor people are being slandered and later could be segregated on these housing estates.

NSW Labor is also arguing that public housing estates with non-mixed communities have higher rates of teen pregnancy, as well as claiming that Waterloo is derelict and has drug dealers on every level.

There was a particularly vicious parliamentary debate, which was sparked by Greens MP Jenny Leong, on Tuesday night. And these are some of the lies that NSW Labor is using to slander the Waterloo public housing community.

The Waterloo tenants are reorganising themselves in a resident action group. There is also a lot more confidence to resist the eviction now that there are 50 to 150 people turning up to a housing justice encampment every day.

We have events almost every night at the encampment: music, film screenings and political discussions. And we are planning a National Day of Action for housing justice, with a turn on your lights event at Waterloo.

We are going to give the tenants lights that they can light up. We will also be encouraging people across the country to take the same action in their homes, to save Waterloo – to support the battle for Waterloo, in a housing crisis.

In an unprecedented housing crisis its criminal to demolish public housing. Absolutely, criminal. So, we are very pleased to have this campaign so widely supported and growing from strength-to-strength day-by-day.

So, would you say the amount of support this campaign is garnering is a bit out of the ordinary? 

Yes. There are a whole range of factors leading to this increasing support. The Palestine campaign has really galvanised young people.

It is also the cost-of-living crisis, and the US invading Iran exacerbating cost-of-living further. This has just made young people aware that we have to resist and clawback concessions on our housing, electricity bills or petrol costs.

We also have to resist their war drive.

So, that has meant that people are pretty keen to live together in a resistance camp and organise with vulnerable tenants who are being harassed and bullied by the government and not supported in the way that they should be.

And lastly, Rachel, is NSW Labor guaranteed a victory in this battle for Waterloo? 

No, certainly not. They haven’t brought demolition teams in today, and there is an ALP end homelessness group that spoke at the rally yesterday. They are supporting the campaign and they’re going to formulate motions to raise at Labor branches.

We have a very staunch Aboriginal community now supporting us, so the Labor Party are definitely not guaranteed a victory.

If you have a look at Rose Jackson’s Instagram pages and social media pages, the comments underneath her posts on Waterloo are demanding that the demolition of the site be stopped.

So, they are in for a real fight, and we are very excited to help and be a part of this campaign.

All photos by photographer Zebedee Parkes