Toowoomba Greens candidate for Groom Mickey Berry says shock eviction re-enforces need for party’s housing policies

A regional Queensland Greens candidate nearly became homeless after they and their family were evicted with just seven days’ notice. It’s a reminder of why the party’s policies are needed amid a regional housing crisis.

RUNNING: Mickey Berry is the Greens candidate for Groom.

Already dealing with the stress of trying to win over voters, Toowoomba’s Mickey Berry faced the real prospect of being homeless while running their election campaign.

The Greens candidate for Groom has revealed first-hand how little power renters can have over their futures, after their family was evicted from their Centenary Heights house last month.

Berry said they were originally given just a week to pack up their entire lives and move out of the property they’d called home for the past 12 years.

“They gave us just seven days initially but we managed to extend it to two weeks,” they said.

“We were given a failure to remedy a breach, which was for a breach that they never gave us an inspection for and we are fighting it.

“We did luckily end up moving and finding somewhere to live, but our eviction and moving date was my mother’s birthday.”

It comes as Toowoomba’s rental vacancy rate sits at just 0.4 per cent, making it difficult for displaced renters.

The 23-year-old, who has made social and affordable housing a cornerstone of their campaign, said they and their mother lived in a motel for three days before they were given a lifeline by their old property manager.

The shock eviction put added stress on Berry while they tried to run their first electoral campaign in the safe conservative seat, forcing them to miss events or attend them virtually.

“The cherry on top is two days after we got evicted we caught Covid,” they said.

“We were running around packing and I’m trying to run a campaign – I’m missing events, so I did the Chamber of Commerce forum via Zoom.

“We were in a hotel for three days — we were very fortunate to find a house, we also had a lot of support from the Greens and members.

“It’s pretty stressful trying to run a political campaign, having Covid and navigating all your political commitments, and also trying to move house when the real estate agency is giving you a bad reference.”

Berry said the experience reinforced their faith in the Greens’ housing policies, which includes a plan to build 3000 new social dwellings to support low-income earners.

“It was immensely stressful and it made me realise very much that there was not a lot we could do,” they said.

“It’s definitely strengthened my opinion on our housing policies, with renters’ rights and making housing more affordable.

“Renters have no power – landlords and real estate agents can do whatever the hell they want, they can find something to kick you out if they really want to.

“Having that happen to us personally has really (emphasised) how important our housing policies are, especially in relation to renters’ rights.”

Berry is hoping to build on momentum created by previous Greens candidate for Groom Alyce Nelligan, who secured eight per cent of the primary vote at the 2019 federal election — the party’s best ever result in the seat.

The Greens are on track for a similar result according to new polling by YouGov this week, which would put it fourth behind the LNP, Labor and One Nation.