Floods of tears

Rick Morton’s piece about the New South Wales government’s shameful planning processes failing to ensure adequate social housing is entirely consistent with its reluctance to govern for all (“Public enemy”, March 5-11). A case in point is Dominic Perrottet’s clear failure to properly assist people during the flood emergency. Time and again, this government has neglected the forgotten element of a neoliberal economy – people. We do, however, hear a lot about the urgent requirements of business and the economy. In the case of social and affordable housing projects, including the Waterloo Estate, where “budget neutrality” and asset selloff business models are deployed, it is property developers who substantially benefit, rather than the 50,000 people on the waiting list. Similarly with the floods, where grants to businesses are all very well, but trickle-down theory works inefficiently for people who have lost everything. If governments want to understand why electorates are turning away, perhaps focus more on people and less on themselves and their corporate boosters.

– Alison Stewart, Riverview, NSW