I have some sympathy that items that connected this lady to her dead father were lost. But Jesus fucking Christ 18 years is not a reasonable amount of time to leave a property empty.

On the other hand, this earlier story shows a clear failure on van den Lamb's part to do due diligence, and I have far more sympathy for the home owner in that case.

[–] eureka@aussie.zone 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Agreed. It's an unfortunate situation, it really is, but there is a housing crisis and it's been [FAIAP] uninhabited for 18 years. Hope they manage to recover the furniture somehow, but ultimately, I care about housing people more than sentimental values.

As for the second one, I love what van den Lamb is doing but there absolutely needs to be critique and correction to avoid those slip-ups getting through vetting. Mess-ups can have serious impacts to innocent people and furthermore could further harm the public perception of squatting as a valid coping mechanism for combatting homelessness.

[–] DolphinLundgrin@aussie.zone 6 points 1 week ago

Everyone should vote this disgrace into Parliament, please. He'd be the least disgraceful one in there.

[–] melbaboutown@aussie.zone 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

There should be due diligence in making sure these places are empty. Yikes.

And this is probably highly illegal, risky and unwise on PP’s part. (Edit: Because this leaves him open to being blamed for any and all squatting regardless of involvement.) The website is something I didn’t know about.

But yeah, that second house sat vacant for 18 years and Australia is in a severe housing crisis. It’s sad that this lady lost sentimental property she left there but people out here are desperate. You can’t just hoard the necessities of life away from others. Rent it out or sell it.

I don’t think this guy is a disgrace. No matter how he’s going about it he’s highlighting an important issue and doing what he can to help.