Aboriginal people in WA’s public housing system are fighting against a relentless tide of ‘punitive policy’

Nannette Knapp in Albany, Western Australia. Knapp has been homeless since 2014 when she was evicted from her public housing tenancy and a $26k debt was raised against her by the WA housing authority. Photograph: David Dare Parker/The Guardian

When Nannette Knapp’s son was 13 years old, he received a kidney transplant. He’d suffered from kidney disease since he was three, and had been on dialysis for years. The transplant was a big deal in the small community of Albany, Western Australia, where the family lives. It featured on the local news, and was even mentioned by then local member, Peter Watson, in the state’s lower house of parliament during a debate on council amalgamations.

“Young Cody Knapp received a kidney transplant,” Watson said, while extolling the virtues of his electorate. “He is now living the life of a normal 13-year-old boy.”