The push to stop the first of three demolition stages for the Waterloo estate continues and support for the encampment at the Waterloo south site is growing.

A speak-out at TJ Hickey Park on May 31, followed by a march through the affected housing blocks, drew a range of people to hear from residents and supporters about why Labor’s plan to demolish good public units was really a thinly disguised gift to its developer mates.

The Waterloo south area slated for demolition is the biggest area of the three stages: it makes up about 65% of the Waterloo Estate. The buildings are slated for demolition across a six-to-nine-month period.

Karyn Brown, a resident at Waterloo and an activist in Action for Public Housing, skewered Labor’s proposition that it was delivering “positive outcomes” for tenants.

“To justify this demolition and displacement of 750 people to heaven knows where — because there really aren’t many vacant properties in the area — Labor has been slandering [the residents],” Brown said.

“Ten years ago, [former Liberal MLC] Brad Hazzard said we’re ‘generation after generation of dole bludgers’. [Former Liberal MLC] Pru Goward said we’re ‘drug dealers and drug addicts’ and this week [minister for local government] Ron Hoenig yet again said that there’s a drug dealer on every floor.

“Well, that’s not true. What is true is that there are drug dealers in........

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