Dear 2042 Locals,
I’m Jenny Leong, the Greens MP for Newtown and your representative in the NSW Parliament.
As a longtime resident of Newtown, a passionate advocate for climate action, affordable housing, renters’ rights and equality, I’m so proud to represent our diverse, vibrant, and progressive community made up of so many wonderful people.
Our community also has one of the highest proportions of renters anywhere in the state. And with more and more people renting than ever before - many likely to be lifelong renters - the Greens have been campaigning for years to protect and massively strengthen renters’ rights.
We know we need a serious overhaul of the system to give renters desperately needed stability and security, and it’s why we’ve been working inside and outside Parliament to put renters’ rights at the top of the agenda.
When catastrophic floods hit around the state this year, we introduced a bill to Parliament to give renters in flood impacted communities urgent and immediate protections - including a ban on evictions, a cap on rents, and automatic rent waivers for uninhabitable homes.
As unrelenting wet weather hit Sydney and renters in our community dealt with mould, damp, leaks, and dodgy landlords, we pushed to make it a requirement for all rentals to be waterproofed and mould-free.
And as the rental crisis escalated, with more and more renters hit with record high rent costs and unfair evictions, we introduced a bill to NSW Parliament that would have finally ended unfair, no grounds evictions in NSW. Ending no grounds evictions would have given renters much-needed security by Christmas, and made a massive difference to renters who we know are too scared to negotiate rent increases or ask for repairs because of the threat of an eviction notice.
Shamefully, the Liberal Government were backed in by NSW Labor and together they blocked our bill and voted against giving the two million renters in NSW housing security.
The Greens are the only party in NSW Parliament that will vote for renters’ rights, every MP, every time. We’re committed to cutting rents, ending unfair, no grounds evictions, and giving renters the right to own pets.
If you’re a renter in our community, I’m sorry the current situation is so crappy, but I can assure you we’re working hard to fix it. The Greens will always stand up to the special interests putting landlords and real estate agents' profits before the right of renters to a secure and affordable home.
Whether you are a renter or not, if you are concerned about a local issue or if our office can assist you with a specific matter, please get in touch - we’re always here to help. You can call 9517 2800, email us on newtown@parliament.nsw.gov.au, or drop in to our office at 383 King St, Newtown.
To let us know the issues that matter most to you,
take our short survey at https://www.jennyleong.org/communitysurvey_2022 or scan the QR code below.
And if you see me out or about on the street or in a pub or
cafe - be sure to say hi!
Yours sincerely,
Jenny Leong MP, Member for Newtown