Australian museum of squatting. Squatters, fuckwits, bums, lowlifes | slackbastard. A reply to John Surname, principally, but also an opportunity to review some of the recent history of squatting in Australia. S is for SHACking Up, Soul Train & Squatting (January 16, 2009) was a previous post responding to some criticisms of SHAC, but on squatting, property and housing issues more generally. John wrote on the subject of Diddly-Squatters on January 14. The following img, taken from John’s post, graphically portrays the general tone of his writing on the subject of squatting: And here’s some recent commentary from John (and A.J): Yeah I read it. So to begin… OK. On the other hand, I also cited Julia Gillard’s speech of March 2008, and half-a-dozen or so media reports from December 2008/January 2009, one from 2004, and two studies (2007 and 2002) both by Richard James, Director of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education and Professor in Higher Education at unimelb.
So I’ll try again: “Squatting is for bums and lowlifes, and in this day and age is a lifestyle choice.” Squatters out as bulldozers start engines - National - smh.com.au. ActNow - Time to squat. Photographer : droob @ flickr ‘Squatting’—it’s one of those words that's not used at the dinner table very often and when it is silence falls as minds conjure images of smashed windows and aggressive junkies surrounded by rubbish heaps. Most of the people I know who squat are students, or young people, who can't afford to rent. Most of the squats I have been to are just regular houses, with veggie patches and regular nights to take the bins out. The negative stigma surrounding squatting needs to change because it could be the solution to the current housing crisis. Rental prices in share houses are still increasing; for example, in Melbourne, it's no longer normal to pay $60 or $70 a week, while paying over $120 a week is not uncommon.
This amount plus bond, bills and the cost of food each week, leaves the average student or young person with a near impossible cost of living. Australian cities also have the most overvalued houses in the western world. How do I know this? PILCH, 2009. Unemployed squat in Health Department house. Occupy Sydney | The Martin Place Occupation Group Is @ www.occupysydney.org.au.