Knitting Nannas Against Gas sitting tight outside Lismore MP's office

The Knitting Nannas Against Gas are calling on Lismore MP Thomas George to better represent his community on the issue of unconventional gas, or leave office.

By Margaret Burin


Louise Somerville, one of the Knitting Nannas Against Gas, say the group will continue to protest outside the office of Lismore MP Thomas George until he speaks out against unconventional gas exploration in the region. (ABC Local:Margaret Burin )

Every Thursday afternoon for the past 18 months, the Knitting Nannas have unpacked their chairs and yellow balls of yarn and sat outside Thomas George's Carrington Street office.

 

Knitting Nanna Louise Somerville says the state member for Lismore is not representing his community on the most important issue in his electorate.

"We're ashamed of him. He's let us down. We pay him," she said.

"He's got to start representing us."

Last week the NSW Office of Coal Seam Gas suspended petroleum company Metgasco's licence to drill for gas at Bentley.

In a separate announcement, Resources Minister Anthony Roberts referred the project to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

Despite the suspension, the Knitting Nannas have vowed to maintain their vigil outside Mr George's office each week until the Nationals MP speaks out publically against unconventional gas exploration in the Northern Rivers.

Ms Somerville says in a meeting with Thomas George, she took in photos of her own children to voice her concerns about the gas industry.

"I put them in front of him and said 'this is my future'...you need to seriously look at these pictures and think about these kids and their future.

"He's more than once said 'what can I do?', but it's just not good enough."

Thomas George has declined ABC North Coast's request for an interview

Reference: http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2014/05/23/4010881.htm?site=northcoast

Millers Point: Letter to the Editor

This piece was first published by The Brown Couch, a blog written by the Tenants' Union of New South Wales. It is one of the best pieces of writing I have come across. I often struggle trying to describe the significance of homes, and community ties, to renters. This writer does so beautifully. Please read.

I sit here with tears in my eyes so I cannot pretend that I do not have a deeply personal and emotional connection to the proposed removal of the social housing residents of Millers point. I grew up in a terrace in Lower fort street and my mum still lives there as she has done so for 40 years, laboriously maintaining and restoring her home (largely herself). Even if she is forced to move away, that house will always be our family home and the fact that she doesn't own it does not make that connection or the emotional distress any less valid.

When I was growing up our terrace was, like many in the area, a Maritime workers owned boarding house populated by single old men who had worked on the wharves. These men had lived here through their working life and now into their retirement. Our men were "Jocky" and "Bluey". "Jocky" was a Scotsman who I loved dearly. We watched Sale of the Century each evening and shared chocolate biscuits. "Bluey" would say "respect your mother" if I gave her too much lip and would ball room dance with me in the kitchen at Christmas.

Mum assumed responsibility for our terrace when the former landlord moved on and it was always understood that these men would stay in their home with us as long as they wished. They were family to me and my childhood was infinitely enhanced by their presence and changed by their passing. We still refer to those rooms as Jocky's and Bluey's. Times changed as did the government department overseeing the property, but it was always our home. That is our story and if you scratch the surface in Miller's point there are a myriad of colourful, complex and moving stories to be told. There are of course such stories everywhere, the difference is here all our stories are entwined and many go back generations.

I do not live in Millers point and have not done so for many years. The announcement last week was not something which was completely unexpected. Indeed the community has been living in the shadow of the threat of this for years. A shadow of uncertainty which has pervaded everyday life and had a detrimental effect on many.

Never the less, reading the media over the last few days I have been profoundly moved. These are people I know. People who are part of the fabric of this community and hence my life. I see people in the articles who helped out at the canteen when I was a primary school on Observatory hill, people who brought my dog back when he escaped because they knew he was mine and where we lived, people who STILL stop me in the street and tell me I haven't changed since I was a baby. Living outside this community now I can fully appreciate how unique that experience is anywhere, let alone in Sydney today.

The letter which was handed to my mother last week said that attempts would be made to relocate her "close to family and friends".  I am my mothers family. I would welcome her anytime but she does not want to leave her home. Not because it is in a street has recently been deemed a desirable location (when 30 years ago most did not see its virtues) but because it is her HOME. Much as we love each other, My mum does she does not want to move. Her friends and support networks are in the Millers point community, her heart is there, her past  and her memories are there and she has always seen her future. As do many others with deep connections to one another and to the area. The human impact cannot be underestimated.

How many people know their neighbour these days? How many would give them the keys when they go away? They do in Millers Point. People here care about each other. They attend the funeral when a member of the community passes away. A good many came and celebrated my 1st AND my 21st birthdays in our backyard. They know the older members who need a helping hand or should be checked on if they haven't been seen on their daily walk. If an young community member is courting trouble, elders of the community will engage them or their parents and express concerns. Until the local corner store was sold as a private residence in the last few years the owners would run a tab if someone forgot money for milk or offer some of their home made falafel for you to try. Millers point is a community in the true sense of the word. Community does not mean people who live geographically close to one another. It is something which evolves over time if nurtured and it certainly cannot be manufactured or constructed.

New residents to the community have told me in the park that they are thrilled to have such a welcoming and supportive community. Indeed many have expressed that they have moved here because of this. Miller Point truly is, as the state heritage register described it, a ''living cultural landscape'' with ''an unusually high and rare degree of social significance''. I can tell you this as I was fortunate enough to grow up in this community, observe the changes over the last 30 years and now visit it regularly with an outside perspective.

Miller's Point is the type of community I think most people would want their children to grow up in and their parents to grow old in. A community spirit born of continuity and time. The Millers point community can, and has evolved. From the earliest public housing and Maritime workers accommodation, it has become a mix of corporate real estate, private and social housing. My understanding is that this integrated model is now widely recommended to prevent social housing area becoming socially depressed.

Surely the largely long term and often elderly residents should be treated with more compassion and respect than is being shown. Equally a community without youth has no future and this should also be considered. The significant economic benefits of true community, and the burden this removes from social resources should be supported, allowing our city to become more viable, integrated and community minded. Millers Point is an integrated social success. It should be recognised, celebrated and not destroyed.

 

Resourced: http://landlordwatch.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/millers-point-letter-to-editor.html 

Time for Strategy: Part 1

If you have been hiding under a rock, you might have missed the announcement that the NSW Liberal Government's is selling high-value properties on Sydney's harbour front - Millers Point, the Rocks, and Dawes Point. Public housing tenants, many of whom are elderly and disabled, are being evicted from their homes.

The NSW Liberal Government says it is going to reinvest moneys into public housing. We call bullshit. We think this is the beginning of the end. It is going to sell off its housing stock until there is nothing left. This is consistent with its user pays philosophy. The Liberal Party does not believe in having a safety net. It thinks individuals should pay whatever the market dictates. On another level, the sell-off is about class warfare. If the NSW Government succeeds, the working class will be pushed out, and well-to-do professional types will take over. Property developers are hovering, and they have much to gain. This is a struggle important to all tenants, including public housing tenants. 

 

The tenants are fighting back. The resistance is mounting. To win, they must have a strategy for success. But first, we must first ascertain what strategies the NSW Liberal Government have in place.

1. Divide and conquer - I think they are relying on the strategy of 'divide and conquer'. The media has reported that evictees will have to endure  a cruel lucky dip process for their new homes. The power of these tenants lie in their collective force, and they should resist ploys that seek to divide them.

2. Campaign of misinformation - The NSW Liberal Government went about its task in a misleading and deceptive manner. Minister Pru Goward highlighted the issue of social housing subsidies. This gave the impression that taxpayers' money was paid to tenants. Completely untrue. As the NSW Brown Couch pointed out - tenants pay rent to NSW Housing, not the other way around. By and large, I think the media has backed the residents. A plethora of articles about the sale have been published. I don't include the Daily Telegraph, it's not really a newspaper anymore. More of a blow horn for vested interests. Residents have a powerful tool at their disposal. They can rely on the media to combat deliberate untruths and falsehoods. Social media will also play an important role. The residents have a Facebook page, and a blog.

3. Class envy - The NSW Liberal Government expertly manipulated Sydney's class envy. It played into the middle classes' ambivalence about social welfare, and the deservingness of welfare (well-being?) recipients. Some of the comments on social media have displayed a degree of anger and bitterness I have never seen. Make no mistake, this manoeuvre was deliberate. We think all Aussies should have access to affordable and appropriate housing irrespective of ability to pay. There's only one way to combat ignorance, and that's education. In a fair society, we help people who can't help themselves.

5. Framing - Minister Pru Goward tried to frame the sell-off as a fairness issue. When she made the announcement on 18 March 2014, she said, 'I cannot look taxpayers of NSW in the eye, I cannot look at other public housing tenants in the eye, and I cannot look at the 57,000 people on the waiting list in the eye when we preside over such an unfair distribution of subsidies.' I almost puked when I heard her say this. I would like to know how much political spin doctors were paid to sell this decision. See how she manipulates perceptions of truth when she refers to looking people in the eye. The residents don't think the decision was fair. There was no consultation, no procedural fairness. And really, it is their feelings that matter. It is their homes, and their lives.

4. Exhaustion - The government is well-resourced and formidable enemy. Last year, Holdfast Bay Council evicted 40 permanent residents from Brighton Caravan Park. Only recently, the residents announced that they were backing down, and calling a halt to their legal battle. They were worn out. They had suffered physically, emotionally, and financially. The government knows that many of the residents don't have the wherewithal to handle a protracted fight. They are counting on it. They know people need stability. The tenants are going to need, not only financial support, but emotional support as well.

The tenants must also make a realistic appraisal of their strengths and weaknesses. As I intimated above, many of the tenants are elderly and/or disabled and don't have fantastically strong coping skills. On the other hand, many of the tenants are of the working class and are used to fighting for their rights. Some of the tenants are retired members of unions like the CFMEU. The weakness can also be turned into a strength. The government won't look good if it forcibly evicts residents from their homes. I can see it now - 'Sorry Mr Police Officer, can I please grab my walking frame before you throw me in the paddy wagon!'. On the other hand, the residents of Millers Point form a strong collective. They are organised and they don't want to lose their homes. As this is close-knit community, they have a base to work from. Stronger together, as the saying goes.

It is my view that the residents have reasonable  to good prospects of success. In the next instalment, I will look at potential strategies and tactics the residents can use to protect their homes.

Resourced: http://landlordwatch.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/time-for-strategy-part-1.html  

Millers Point Public Housing Evictees Forced to Endure ‘Cruel’ Lucky Dip Process to Find New Homes



Barney Gardner of the Millers Point, Dawes Point & The Rocks Public Housing Tenants Group.Source: News Limited

 Lucky dips are usually ­associated with children’s parties and fetes but, for the public housing evictees of Millers Point and surrounds, this is the newest system in place for their ­relocation.

   

Each Tuesday, residents are advised of vacant properties elsewhere in Sydney and then, should they chose to apply for that property, a ballot draw is held on Friday to select the ‘lucky’ tenant who will move.

“Family and Community Services has launched an ­initiative named My Property Choice, which provides Millers Point residents with additional relocation ­options,” a FACS spokesman said.



https://www.facebook.com/millerspointsaveourhomes

The housing lucky dips have taken place at the Sirius block.Source: News Corp Australia



 “Under the existing process, residents nominate a preferred area where they would like to relocate, and FACS works with them to find a suitable property in that location.

“With My Property Choice, tenants are given an opportunity to inspect properties outside their nominated area, but may be suitable for their needs.

Alex Greenwich: Housing sell-off is ‘social cleansing’

Residents: Government lacks compassion

“If there are several tenants interested in the same property, a ballot is held.

“The first My Property Choice event was held last week and interest was ­received on all six of the properties shown.”

https://www.facebook.com/millerspointsaveourhomes

A sign of defiance on a Millers Point terrace.Source: Supplied

City of Sydney councillor Linda Scott said the new lotto system was an outrageous way of determining housing.

“Needless to say, this ­uncertainty on top of the pre-existing upheaval is being seen as cruel beyond belief,” Cr Scott said.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Is the treatment of Millers Point evictees cruel? Tell us your thoughts below

One resident who experienced the ballot was Millers Point, Dawes Point and The Rocks Tenants Group convener Barney Gardner.

He said this lotto-style ­relocation was targeted at residents in the Sirius building, but about 30-40 tenants from the area attended the showing last Tuesday.

 

Residents are fighting for their homes.Source: Supplied

 

“When we went up there (to Sirius) they had a large screen connected to a computer set up in one of the common rooms,” he said.

“And then they’d show sort of a slide show of each property.”

Mr Gardner said for each property residents were ­presented with all the key stats such as number of rooms, aspect, a map of the area with local services and transport.

“I picked up a few faults in some of the properties,” Mr Gardner said.

“The housing officials were all really polite and nice … but what I think is most frightening is why have people moved out of these places.”

Reference For More Details and leave a comments:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/city-east/millers-point-public-housing-evictees-forced-to-endure-cruel-lucky-dip-process-to-find-new-homes/story-fngr8h22-1226924145621

Millers Point Residents Struggle for Justice

Elderly residents in Millers Point have been reluctant to use non-profit transport services since the government’s announcement that public housing properties in the area will be sold.

Henry Wittaker · Wednesday, May 7, 2014 #savemillerspoint

The manager of South East Sydney Community Transport, Jane Rogers, said ridership has fallen by half in Millers Point in the last month because elderly residents are extremely worried about being relocated from their homes.

“This has been extremely distressing for the 29 elderly people we serve in Millers Point,” she said. “The government hoped to treat this like an old band-aid, pull it off fast and it might hurt but at least it will be quick. This feels more like an amputation without anaesthetic.”#savemillerspoint

On March 19, Minister for Family and Community Services, Pru Goward, announced the government’s plans to sell some 293 high-value public housing properties in Millers Point.
#savemillerspoint
One of Jane Rogers’ clients, Debbie, has lived in Millers Point off and on since she was 17. Her father ran the local butcher shop for 30 years. She has lived in a house in Millers point for 18 years with her son. Her father, who also lives in public housing in Millers Point, requires full-time care from Debbie following a recent fight with cancer. Living so close to her father makes taking care of him possible and she is afraid of what may happen to him now.

“I’m fighting because I want to stay,” said Debbie. “The community here is very strong and I feel safe here but I’m still willing to move if there is a decent home.”

But, Debbie’s relocation officer has told her there are no options that currently fit her needs and she will have to wait.

Patricia Corowa moved into a house in Millers Point in 2012 after 26 years on the Housing NSW waiting list. She had been homeless and lived in condemned buildings and tiny private apartments.

When she finally saw her home in Millers Point she thought she would spend the rest of her life there. But at 10am on March 19 a letter with the heading “Moving to A New Home” was delivered to her door. Since then she says she has been left frustrated and disheartened by a string of no-show
appointments with her relocation officer and increasingly impersonal letters from Housing NSW.

The 500 residents of Millers Point are being moved to the top of the waiting list for public housing, but this means that the 57,000 people already on the list will need to wait longer. There are currently no proposals for how the money from the sale of the Millers Point properties will be used to provide new housing stock.

The government is now facing a great deal of criticism over its handling of the community at Millers Point regarding this decision.

http://www.southsydneyherald.com.au/millers-point-residents-struggle-for-justice/#.U3nOws-KDIU

Read More Stories, go to click on the link: http://www.southsydneyherald.com.au/tag/millers-point/#.U3tGws-KDIU
#savemillerspoint


We Don't Want To Lose Our Homes Say No To Social Cleansing

 

Smokin Joe Mekhael is THE MOST ELECTRIFYING MAN IN DANCE MUSIC TODAY!

We got to meet Smokin’ Joe Mekhael (He made national headlines and gained international fame when he set the Guinness World Record for the longest DJ set in history!)  #savemillerspoint

Congratulations on Your Guinness World Record Smokin’ Joe Mekhael #savemillerspoint

                        Smokin Joe Mekhael holder of  Guiness Book of Records longest DJ set in history#savemillerspoint

 

#savemillerspoint

#savemillerspoint
                                           Smokin Joe Mekhael

National Trust Blasts Government's 'Unfortunate Mindset' on Heritage

Pulled down: the Darling Harbour Convention and Exhibition Centre. Photo: Edwina Pickles

Story by: Leesha McKenny Urban Affairs Reporter

The National Trust has blasted the state government for appearing to return to an "unfortunate mindset" where Sydney’s heritage is allowed to be swept aside in the pursuit of profit.

The trust’s NSW president, Ian Carroll, used his address at its annual heritage awards on Wednesday to highlight the peak body’s concerns for the future of Millers Point and to criticise what had already become of Darling Harbour.

Mr Carroll said despite securing listings on the trust’s register, Darling Harbour landmarks such as the Sydney Exhibition and Convention Centre and Chinese Garden of Friendship ‘‘have either already been lost or are potentially under threat’’ amid the billion-dollar redevelopment of the area.

‘‘This indicates how quickly we are willing to sweep away the important heritage of only three decades earlier, contrary to basic conservation ethics, and on the assumption that new is always better – or at least more financially viable,’’ he said.

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Mr Carroll said it had been "government practice" in the 20th century to remove old buildings to make way for new development, and ‘‘we seem to be now returning to that unfortunate mindset’’.

He drew a comparison between threatened redevelopment of The Rocks in the 1970s and the recent government decision to sell off the public housing in Millers Point.

‘‘The wholesale disposal of 293 properties as presently announced will, in the trust’s view, lead to pressures from developers to purchase, demolish and redevelop swathes of this unique, oldest surviving suburban area in Australia,’’ Mr Carroll said.

The area's heritage protections could be switched off if a developer were able to convince the government its proposal for Millers Point was a state significant development, he said.

The trust instead supports gradually replacing the public housing tenants, as their properties become vacant, with new owners committed to preserving the building’s heritage.

The state's new Heritage Minister, Rob Stokes, who was in the audience for Mr Carroll’s speech, was not prepared to comment about any of the trust’s concerns about Millers Point.

‘‘I’m happy to talk about this, but I really want to think through and digest what he’s had to say," he said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/national-trust-blasts-governments-unfortunate-mindset-on-heritage-20140514-zrcmx.html#ixzz31jOkuttl