The Briefing

Inside a locked down public housing tower

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Episode notes

In today’s episode we look at the Melbourne public housing tower crisis. While the city of Melbourne is back in lockdown and panic buying has returned, what will happen to the 3000 people trapped in public housing towers that can’t even go to the supermarket? We speak to Abdi Ish who lives in a North Melbourne housing tower and Kon Karapanagiotidis, CEO Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
 

 

In today's news headlines:

• Fears Melbourne outbreak has already spread interstate
• World champion snowboarder dies spearfishing on the Gold Coast
• PM confirms JobSeeker will be extended past September for some

 

In today's Briefing: the experience of a pandemic for someone who lives in a public housing tower is very different to that of residents in the suburbs. No visitors are allowed in and no residents can go out. The risk of infection is high with cramped living conditions, shared laundries, and hundreds of people using the same lift, meaning these buildings have an explosive potential to spread COVID-19. We ask a resident to paint to a picture for us -  What is it like in there? Is everyone staying in their apartment, or are they going out into the hallways? Is it quiet?