A radical tenants’ rights activist who encouraged squatters to move into a vacant home owned by a grieving daughter after her dad passed away has refused to admit it was a mistake – and warned he would likely do it again.
The squatters changed the locks on the Melbourne property and stole several items belonging to the late homeowner after Victorian Socialist senate candidate Jordan van den Lamb, 29, shared the address to his social media.
Mr van den Lamb, a lawyer and housing advocate known online as Purplepingers, maintains a database of seemingly abandoned houses across Australia which he provides to Aussies in need of emergency housing.
Carol, who inherited the Melbourne property after her father passed away nearly two decades ago, was left $70,000 out-of-pocket after her insurance claim was rejected following the ‘bizarre’ break-in.
She told the ABC the ordeal left her feeling ‘very unsafe’ and ‘scared of what might happen’, and that the stolen belongings had been her final links to her father.
Confronted with Carol’s story during an appearance on The Project on Wednesday night, Mr van den Lamb said he was ‘very sorry’ her belongings were taken but refused to admit it had been a mistake to share her father’s address.
‘I think I feel very sorry that her belongings were taken but I also think about the fact that every four days a young person experiencing homelessness dies in this country even though there are hundreds of thousands of homes available to them,’ he said.
‘They die because they don’t have access to housing and our government sits there doing nothing about it.’
Victorian Socialist senate candidate Jordan van den Lamb has been forced to apologise to a Melbourne woman after he encouraged squatters to move in to her late father’s home
Mr van den Lamb is pictured alongside Greens leader Adam Bandt during a press conference
Asked whether he would post the address again if given the opportunity, Mr van den Lamb told The Project he would ‘have a think about it, I guess’.
Carol only realised the address to her late father’s property, which she did not live in, had been leaked by Mr van den Lamb after she tried and failed to gain access on a routine visit last year.
After struggling to fit her key in the door, Carol was horrified to discover the locks had been changed without her approval.
She then noticed new CCTV cameras had been installed over the carport and a heating system down the side of the house.
‘At that point, I think my heart was in my throat and I was panicking,’ she told the ABC.
After police forced entry to the home, Carol was devastated to find almost all her father’s belongings had been removed.
The stolen items – including his favourite painting and an antique radio – were the few belongings connecting her to her dad who died nearly two decades ago.
Mr van den Lam first rose to social media prominence under the moniker Purplepingers by posting satirical videos mocking unethical landlords.
Victorian woman Carol reported feeling ‘very unsafe’ after the locks on her Melbourne home were changed by squatters who removed items belonging to her late father (stock)
The Victorian Socialist senate hopeful amassed a large social media following for his satirical videos mocking unethical landlords went viral
His senate candidacy announcement became mired in controversy after his social media posts calling Victorian police ‘Nazis’ and ‘pigs’ resurfaced.
Last year, the activist began collecting addresses to seemingly abandoned properties which he distributes through public and private means.
He has repeatedly claimed the address he posts publicly tend to be of lesser quality than those he distributes privately and are generally posted simply to raise awareness of the number of empty houses across the country.
‘The addresses that I post are generally the ones that I personally think no one would live in because I probably wouldn’t live there,’ he told The Project.
According to Mr van den Lam, Carol’s address was submitted to him by a neighbour who claimed the property had not been lived in for more than a decade.
When asked by The Project hosts whether he made enquiries as to the condition of the property in this case, he admitted to relying solely on the neighbour’s report.
‘Obviously I can’t visit every single house which is unfortunate,’ Mr van den Lam said.
‘I’m doing this because I see that there are hundreds of thousands of empty homes in this country and there are far fewer people than that sleeping rough, dying on the street because they don’t have access to housing.
‘I’m just literally here trying to make sure that people have things that they need because I care about them.’
Mr van den Lamb admitted to feeling ‘very sorry’ Carol’s belongings had been stolen but refused to rule out leaking her address again if the opportunity arose
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday described the break-in as ‘outrageous’ before blasting Mr van den Lamb as a ‘disgrace’.
‘The idea of having to deal with the loss of a loved one, I think, would have been traumatic enough without finding someone essentially taking over what was her late father’s property,’ Mr Albanese told ABC Radio Melbourne.
Victorian Socialists soon returned fire in a post on X in which they described being called a ‘disgrace’ by the Prime Minister as a ‘badge of honour’.
‘The disgraceful thing isn’t that people like [Mr van den Lamb] are trying to do something about this – encouraging squatting, in part, to try force action – but that no major party in Australia is actually proposing to help the situation in any way, and instead making it worse!’ the post read.
Mr van den Lamb has been contacted by Daily Mail Australia.
