An Aussie prankster has infuriated a minor political party that supports squatter’s rights by filming himself pretending to be homeless inside its offices.
Drew Pavlou – known for his activism against the Chinese Communist Party – arrived uninvited at the Victorian Socialists headquarters in Melbourne on Tuesday with a camera rolling and said he was moving in before pulling out a sleeping bag.
The party’s lead Senate candidate is Jordan van den Lamb, also known online as Purplepingers, who urged people in 2024 to squat in vacant homes.
‘Hello guys, I’m at the Victorian Socialists Office,’ Pavlou announced in the video.
‘They actually support squatting, they support people getting inside buildings and squatting. So I thought I would squat inside the Victorian Socialists HQ.’
He then amps up the performance by lying down on the floor and wrapping himself in his sleeping bag.
‘I’m homeless and I’m a meth addict and I haven’t been able to get housing due to the capitalist system, so I thought I would just crash here for a few nights.’
A visibly uncomfortable staff member repeatedly asks him to stop filming and leave, which he does, just under a minute after arriving, as soon as his cameraman lowers the camera.
One of his posts was linked to a high-profile incident in April 2025, when a Melbourne woman’s home was broken into after the address was shared online.
The squatters changed the locks, sold her late father’s possessions, and left her with a $70,000 repair bill, a cost her insurer refused to cover.
At the time, Pavlou criticised van den Lamb, calling him ‘unhinged.’
After the stunt, Pavlou posted to social media slamming the Victorian Socialists as hypocrites.
‘The Victorian Socialists officially support breaking into homes and squatting so I thought I would take a sleeping bag and pillow and try sleep in their front office for a few nights,’ Pavlou wrote.
‘They threatened to call the police on me as an unhoused neurodivergent POC. Zero solidarity.’
The Victorian Socialists fired back on Wednesday with a scathing statement, accusing Pavlou of exploiting the issue of homelessness for clicks.
‘Yesterday we were paid a visit by right-wing social media ‘influencer’ Drew Pavlou who was cosplaying homelessness in order to generate engagement for his social media pages,’ the party said.
Drew Pavlou (pictured) attempted to ‘squat’ inside the Victorian Socialists headquarters
Jordan van den Lamb (pictured) also known online as ‘purplepingers’ went viral after publishing a DIY guide on how to detect whether a house is fit for squatting
‘He was asked to leave by one of our young volunteers (no-one threatened to call the police on him as he claimed in his posts about the stunt) and he did so as soon as his cameraman was no longer able to film him, about one minute in total.’
They also used the opportunity to distance themselves from the stunt, reminding supporters they take the issue seriously.
‘As a party, we take the issue of homelessness very seriously, and have developed a policy plan that would, if implemented, mean people in actual housing emergencies have a chance of finding secure shelter.’
Victorian Socialists also said they didn’t have a party policy on squatting, but did ‘oppose perfectly good housing being left empty long-term without a good reason’
‘One of our policies is to seize those empty for 12 months or more for use as public housing,’ they wrote.
Pavlou hit back on social media, saying he was not politically right wing.
‘I am not a right wing social media influencer, I am a social democrat philosopher and intellectual. Read some theory and get back to me you infantile leftists,’ he wrote.
Victorian Socialists supporters criticised Pavlou for his acts.
Purplepingers in one of his instructional videos (left) and Drew Pavlou (right) who previously rose to prominence after a protest against the Chinese Government saw him suspended from the University of Queensland
Pictured is a previous protest by Purplepingers at a series of residential properties that had been vacant for decades
‘This is behaviour I would expect from a toddler’ someone wrote on social media.
‘He inadvertently made a statement about what it’s like to sleep rough,’ said another.
Pavlou’s followers meanwhile backed his protest.
‘Oh so suddenly private property is a thing?? Good on you Drew,’ said one follower.
‘This is awesome. You forgot their main philosophy which is they only care about things if it doesn’t affect them personally. They are only generous with other people’s money and property, not their own.’ wrote another.
Pavlou became known in 2019, after a protest against the Chinese Communist Party saw him suspended from the University of Queensland.
He has since remained an outspoken critic of the Chinese and Russian Governments, and like Van Den Lamb, unsuccessfully ran for the Australian Senate in 2022.
Daily Mail Australia approached Drew Pavlou for comment.
