Money, money, money Bad Landlord Australia

In my last post, I explored the relationship between the media and government. I analysed an online article about public housing tenants that trash houses. Little did I know NSW Community Services Minister Pru Goward was softening up the public for a sale of public housing on Sydney's harbour front. The article by the Daily Telegraph is an obvious example of forward-thinking strategy.

The NSW Liberal Government is planning on selling almost 300 historic properties at Millers Point, The Rocks and Gloucester Street. The sale includes the landmark Sirius building at The Rocks, a concrete brutalist high-rise apartment complex close to the Harbour Bridge, containing 79 units.

The sale is expected to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s a blatant cash grab. Professor Phibbs from the University of Sydney says the policy seems ‘driven by people trying to get their hands on some quick cash rather than thinking about things from a policy perspective’. If you watch the video of the announcement, Minister Goward provides three reasons for the historic sale. They are as follows:

1. the cost of maintaining heritage-listed buildings is exorbitant
2. the distribution of housing subsidies is inequitable
3. public housing needs to be sustainable in the long-term

Minster Goward made the announcement while her henchmen delivered the news to devastated tenants. There was no consultation. There was no procedural fairness. I have seen this tactic before. Holdfast Bay Council held a confidential meeting to evict permanent residents when it approved a redevelopment of a caravan park.

 

Minister Goward tries to frame the sale as a matter of fairness and equity. I am not convinced. And plus she looks like Cruella Deville from 101 Dalmatians. The resemblance is quie remarkable. But I suppose she can’t help that. The Barry O’Farrell government is selling off houses when the waiting list is miles long and New South Wales has a huge homelessness problem. It’s classic political strategy at its best. They are saying they are helping tenants, when really, they are hurting them.

 

Minister Goward said proceeds from the sale of the historic properties would be reinvested into the social housing system. Somehow I doubt this very much. Shelter NSW's executive officer Mary Perkins says,

We've had a long-time issue with the transparency around the promises that have been made about the sale of stock. They say 'we'll sell this to gain this', but there's never been any evidence produced about the gains...At the end of the day, we've got a really big concern about the geographic divide happening in the city, between these areas [that] are for rich people and these areas [that] are for poor people.

Diversity usually results in better outcomes for the community as a whole. We know that housing estates simply do not work because they localise entrenched disadvantage.

Despite overseeing similar sell-offs, the NSW Opposition has condemned the Liberal Government’s decision. Shadow Minister Linda Burney said Minister Pru Goward could not be trusted to reinvest any proceeds. The Liberal Government has overseen an increase in the public housing waiting list, and a decrease in the number of houses it is building. It has cut $42 million from the budget for maintenance, and $22 million from the budget for building. A report by the NSW Land and Housing Corporation shows that the O’Farrell Government has cut more than 1300 properties from its books.

I am not convinced by the argument older properties are more expensive to maintain. A diverse stock of housing will always involve a range of costs. I seriously doubt NSW Housing will be selling off old government houses in less well-to-do areas of Sydney. The government should not be able to get away with manufacturing excuses by failing to comply with its legal obligation to repair. We know that public housing is ageing and increasingly unfit for purpose. If state and territory governments keep selling off public properties, there is going to be none left. The NSW Government is clearly trying to push a core government responsibility off onto private providers. It is privatisation by stealth.

 

I am also concerned that the human rights of the tenants are not being respected. They are being evicted from their HOMES. It is not humane or compassionate to move elderly residents away from their communities and social ties. Many residents at Millers Point have connections to the area going back generations. The O’Farrell Government has even ignored the advice of its own consultants on evicting vulnerable tenants with minimal damage to their health and well-being. If things get that far, I would suggest pickets to stop police evicting residents from their homes. I don’t think the police would be too keen on physically ejecting the elderly and disabled.

 

I really hope I see media outrage. So far there has been significant coverage. On the whole, it has been fairly sympathetic to the plight of residents. I only hope that it continues. A community action group has already sprung up. You can like the FB page here. We have two years to turn this thing around. So let's do it.

 
Resourced: http://landlordwatch.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/money-money-money.html
 

See More:

• ‘Long-term public tenants to be forced out of Sydney’s heritage Rocks area’, The Australian, 19 March 2014
• Nicole Hasham & Leesha McKenny, ‘O'Farrell government ignored consultants' advice on plan to sell public housing at Millers Points’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 March 2014

Millers Point Residents have been Delivered its COWARDS PUNCH

A King Hit from O'FARRELL & Pru GOWARDS PUNCH.
Wednesday 19th March 2014

Social Housing

I cannot believe what I am hearing on talk back radio the shock jocks are out for the residents heads, the residents are vilified by the wealthy and the other have nots telling another group of have nots that they should not be there, there is no class war in Australia is there.

I have never heard so much anger towards group of residents, innocent people.

What did the residents do to deserve this. It’s the housing system at fault not the residents they are in a system.
 

NSW Housing has mis-managed maintenance in all areas of Public Housing.

If housing NSW did regular maintenance and check-ups of work completed by their contractors there would not be an issue with maintenance, as some of their work is not satisfactory, if it is  reported to the department it is ignored  I don’t think there Housing client service officers have a degree in building maintenance or understand what is required.
 

There is one report that is saying for every house in Millers Point they spend $44, 000 per year. It’s a lie some of those houses have not had proper maintenance for over 30 years. Someone  is lieing here.

The residents are not bad people, the houses are not that bad and the community is not that bad.

Tuesday 25th March 2014

I am collecting my rubbish bins from the street tonight, and I over hear two well dressed guys walking up the street, say there's one of those housing pricks, look at him, they shouldn't be living here, cant wait to they are turfed out.

Miilers Point Public Housing Sale

Big End of town takeover...   Jamie talks a bit of truth.

Social Cleansing

 Social cleansing (Spanish:limpieza social) is the elimination of what can be considered "undesirable" social elements, such as criminals and the homeless. organizations have engaged in social cleansing in 

Millers Point was delivered its Cowards Punch Wednesday 19th March 2014

I love this article.

Battle for Millers Point lost when Pru Goward took control

By Kirsty Needham

The battle for Millers Point's long-term public housing residents to stay was lost when disgraced former finance minister Greg Pearce was sacked, Fairfax Media can reveal.

The Land and Housing Corporation had received heritage office approval last year to construct a building at Millers Point to accommodate up to 140 long-term residents - avoiding the need to evict elderly residents from the suburb when their terraces were sold.

The advice to the Office of Environment and Heritage in mid-2013 was that a facility would be built within the Millers Point precinct to re-house selected tenants. The Heritage Council would vet its design. The housing department was preparing to lodge a subdivision application for the building.

But two days after Mr Pearce lost his ministry in August, the housing corporation was transferred from Finance into the control of Community Services Minister Pru Goward.

Ms Goward instead favoured removing all public housing from Millers Point, which is set to become one of Sydney's richest addresses.

Ms Goward announced last week that all buildings would be sold off and 400 tenants would be evicted over the next two years, including the descendants of the original Millers Point maritime workers.

After details of the plan to allow 140 tenants to continue living in Millers Point were revealed to Fairfax Media, Ms Goward's office responded, saying the idea had been discarded.

The government has not provided details of where evicted tenants will be relocated, but Fairfax has learnt Treasurer Mike Baird will sign over the title to a large parcel of vacant public housing land in Glebe to community housing groups within weeks.

The O'Farrell cabinet approved construction plans for 153 public housing units, 95 affordable housing units and 247 private apartments on the site last December.

Fifteen public housing apartments in Cowper Street, Glebe, were demolished by the state Labor government in 2011. Labor evicted 130 tenants but promised to build housing on the site with the proceeds of money raised by the sale of 99-year leases to Millers Point terraces.

But the land was left vacant for years as a development application was lodged and contested in court.

Non-profit community housing groups City West and Bridge Housing will construct and manage the new properties, which will be partly funded under the National Rental Affordability Scheme. The units will include lift access for elderly people living alone.

If construction starts this year, the project is expected to be completed in December 2016, which coincides with the timeline for moving elderly Millers Point tenants.

Although the Millers Point public housing, and its community, falls under the protection of the NSW Heritage Act, Ms Goward's office did not consult the heritage office before announcing plans for the sell-off last week.

Heritage guidelines warn that action to disperse the community should be avoided. A spokesman for the Office of Environment and Heritage said on Saturday that ''the listing includes significance associated with the resident public housing community''.

Heritage policies for Millers Point would need to be reviewed in light of the sell-off policy, he said.

Decision breaks a thread to the past

Former City of Sydney historian Shirley Fitzgerald says the decision to evict the historic maritime community from Millers Point is ''appalling''. Another to attack the O'Farrell government is prominent architect Philip Thalis. He described the abandonment of public housing at Millers Point as ''rapacious''.

Ms Fitzgerald, whose book on Millers Point was the basis of its state heritage listing in 1999, said the people were as important to its historical value as the buildings.

Millers Point was the first time a whole precinct - not just individual buildings - was protected under heritage law. The listing says its social significance includes the continuing presence of descendants of the original workers, and its unity and authenticity of community.

''It's not just that they are descendants of the maritime workers, but that governments in the early 20th century seemed to understand that you had to have a place for workers to live in the city, not just the rich,'' Ms Fitzgerald said.

Mr Thalis, the architect who won the original Barangaroo design project and conducts walking tours of the area, says Millers Point is protected under the Heritage Act precisely because it was ''the first real public housing in Australia'' and its value was ''unparalleled''.

The Office of Environment and Heritage on Saturday admitted that the heritage listing included the resident public housing community. A spokesman said the Heritage Council would be asked to review the listing because of the government's decision to remove these people. Conservation guidelines would also be reviewed to put in place a heritage strategy that would ''interpret the period of public housing''.

After the plague hit Millers Point in 1901, the land was resumed by the government, and the government architect built housing for waterside workers. Control of the houses was later taken over by the Maritime Services Board. Public housing tenants from the NSW waiting list only began to live in vacant houses from 1985, when the Housing Commission took over the buildings. But the maritime descendants continued to have the right to pass on tenancies through their families.

The decision to evict the entire community ''shows the gap between enlightened NSW governments and agencies over 100 years and the more rapacious attitude that prevails today'', Mr Thalis said.

Millers Point was a ''magical place'', Ms Fitzgerald said. ''These properties will be worth a motza. But my view is that a city that only responds to market imperatives is not a community,'' she said.

Historian Christopher Keating, who researched Millers Point's early colonial history, said: ''There's a long history of publicly funded housing for poor people in this place. It's a bit rich to say, 'How come they continue to get subsidised housing when someone in Barangaroo will be paying millions for an apartment?' Why can't poor people live in a nice place?''

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/battle-for-millers-point-lost-when-pru-goward-took-control-20140322-35a6f.html#ixzz2wgwMLJgr

Motion to Halt the Sale of Public Housing in Millers Point

Wednesday 19^th March 2014
Turf them all out. Big End of town takeover...
Ignore all impact statements O'Farrell Government rides rough shot over residents.
There is No Transperancy in the O'Farrell Government.

Following the shock evictions, local Millers Point residents sit in question time in NSW Parliament House.    I believe the minister Hon Pru Goward was not acknowledging them. She didn’t listen to a word. She sat there talking – and laughing – all through it.  NO COMMENTS From Minister.

Thank God for Alex Greenwich  lending his voice to the cause.

 

The review of the Millers Point houses began soon after the Government came to power. The O'Farrell Government has bent over backwards to give a billionaire a casino; it is now going to turf out its neighbours—400 vulnerable and elderly people. Where are the priorities? Many in the community were willing to work with the Government to reach an outcome that benefited all. They hoped that only some vacant homes would be sold, with no tenant forced to relocate to another area away from their services and social and family networks. Working with the community, we got the review of properties to include a social impact assessment, which looked at the social costs of displacing vulnerable tenants from their homes and tight-knit community. Despite the Government's initial promise, the department did not make the social impact assessment public for comment before making its decision.

In response to my application under the Government Information (Public Access) Act, I was told that the assessment findings were commercial-in-confidence. I agree with the community that this is an excuse to hide the devastating social impact that selling tenants' homes will have. What about an open and transparent government? I have asked the Information Commissioner to review this absurd refusal. I understand that the social impact assessment is now online, but, of course, the residents have not been notified of that and on my reading of it a number of the recommendations made to the Government have been ignored. No decision should be proceeded with until the wider community is aware of the social costs of this sale.

Millers Point has a long history of providing low-cost housing, originally to wharf workers. The Maritime Services Board also gave properties to the then Housing Commission to manage as low-cost housing. The State Heritage Register recognises the importance of Millers Point's social history—it is listed for its cultural and built heritage. The National Trust has described this community as a "living treasure". The announced sales will destroy this living heritage, which will be a loss to the wider community. Social housing tenants are allocated to areas based on need, including being close to health services, work or a family member being cared for. The inner city is close to transport, jobs and support services and as a result there is a huge waiting list. It can take up to two years for people with urgent needs to be allocated housing and from five to 15 years for others.

It will be impossible to relocate more than 400 tenants in the inner city. Those who are old, frail and socially isolated, or who have a mental illness or an intellectual disability, will be pushed to the fringes of the city, away from the support networks they have worked hard to build. Some tenants have been in their homes for years—some for five generations. The impact on them is unimaginable and costly. It is a furphy for the Government to say that these are all luxury homes with harbour views worth $1.3 million. Many are low-key small units that provide vital low-cost inner-city housing to key workers. One-bedroom apartments without views in the Sirius building and the walk-ups are not worth close to that amount.

Another argument was that maintaining these heritage properties was too costly. The Sirius building and other public housing properties are modern and accessible. They are not falling down and do not cost more to maintain than properties in other areas. This is nothing more than social cleansing of the inner city masked with misinformation. The sale of 293 homes in only two years will flood the market and reduce values. In the long term the Government will lose out with this fast approach, while putting tenants through the unwanted ordeal of leaving their homes and community in a rush. This small and stable public housing community has a long history of connection and social support. There is no history of communal conflict, violence and antisocial behaviour. Millers Point tenants care about and contribute to their community.

Successive governments have failed to maintain Millers Point assets, allowing publicly-owned properties to become run down. Tenants are not responsible for this failure, nor are they responsible for the vandalised homes that have been left empty and allowed to fall apart. The tenants are continuing to be punished. Millers Point is one of the oldest and strongest communities in Sydney. The health and mental costs of the impact of today's announcement on residents cannot be assessed. The sales program will soon begin and a tight-knit community that is vital to the social fabric of the inner city will be devastated.

Housing

- See more at: http://www.alexgreenwich.com/motion_to_halt_the_sale_of_public_housing_in_millers_point#sthash.IOcqe8Yn.dpuf



   Jamie Parker MP speech to NSW Parliament.




Millers Point Public Housing  Tanya Plibersek speech in Federal Parliament.

Millers Point Residents Speak Out On Planned Evictions 20 March, 2014

ABC Radio Interviews. Click on the Blue Links Below:

Elizabeth Farrelly discussing Millers Point with Linda Mottram

Barney Gardner, Millers Point Resident

Wendy Ford, Millers Point Resident

Peter Aland, Millers Point Resident

Sophie Cotsis,Shadow Housing Minister at Millers Point

Two Singaporean Architecture students who happened to be wandering through Millers Point

Millers Point resident John speaks his mind on the sell-off

Reference: http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2014/03/20/3968161.htm


Anthony Albanese Defends Public Housing:  Click on the Blue Links Below
http://savemillerspoint.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/lessons-for-millers-point-from-anthony.html

Is the state government being too tough, evicting vulnerable tenants from Millers Point public housing? Angela Catterns & Anthony Albanese who says it's important to celebrate the melting pot of Sydney's residents........Almost 300 public housing properties on Sydney's harbourfront will be sold off, raising hundreds of millions of dollars for the O'Farrell government and forcing out residents.
Anthony Albanese Defends Public Housing on 2UE's...Click on Blue Link to Listen:
http://www.2ue.com.au/blogs/2ue-blog/albanese-defends-public-housing/20140401-35v3v.html


'Cowardly' act forces Millers Point residents to move: http://savemillerspoint.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/cowardly-act-forces-millers-point.html

Ready To Fight: http://savemillerspoint.blogspot.com.au/p/ready-for-fight.html

Millers Point public housing residents given two years to move out



Sydney Morning Herald:

Millers Point residents' fears realised:
http://media.smh.com.au/system/ipad/millers-point-residents-fears-realised-4688109.html

Barangaroo a plague on all their houses  

Green bans' hero joins fight to save Millers Point 

'Cowardly' act forces Millers Point residents to move

Millers Point and its sense of community worth more than expensive views

March 22, 2014 Louise Taylor

There was no sense we were lucky or privileged to live there." Photo: Steven Siewert

Most of my childhood was spent on Millers Point (The Point as locals refer to it) and it was a wonderful, close-knit community.

My great grandmother lived in Kent Street for much of her life. My grandparents married and settled there and my father was born and raised in the family home in Trinity Avenue. My other grandfather was the publican at The Captain Cook Hotel for many years. Later my own parents ran the milk bar on the corner. My siblings and I went to St Brigid's, the tiny Catholic school.

People there didn't have large backyards and many no car, so much of life was conducted on the front steps or front rooms of people's homes. You weren't invited over, you just went over. As kids we were always in other peoples' homes playing. You didn't really tell anyone where you were going because there was just a sense you were safe - everyone knew who you were and who you belonged to.

The strength of the community links and feeling of connection to place fostered in this small area cannot be overestimated. There was a strong social fabric holding us together even though people really were doing it tough - The Point community rallied if someone needed something. We shared 21st birthdays, fancy dress balls and fund raising for The Point football team, usually at the Abraham Mott Hall. There's even a song that only true locals know - The Millers Point Mob
.

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When I used to tell people I lived at Millers Point no one really knew where it was and there was no sense we were lucky or privileged to live there. It wasn't a flash place by any standard.

The community has changed as people have moved on and left. But there remains a special, close-knit community. I can still walk into the pub my grandfather ran and be known as ''Russy's daughter''.

The news of the intended sale is incredibly sad. Sure property prices have grown over the years and they reflect an important financial asset to the government, but those residents and their families lived at The Point when no one else wanted to. There is a human side to the financial equation. Simply rehousing residents tramples all over the very strong connections that have thrived there and sustained families for many generations. Rehousing will give people a house, not a community built on a strong history of connection.

The move will see the community fractured and the face of The Point changed irrevocably.
There is a value in keeping our communities diverse, even the ones with expensive views. Much of the history and character of Millers Point will be lost from the area with these residents. There must be a compromise - one that can recognise the value of the assets and at the same time recognise the history and sense of community that is what has made Millers Point special for generations.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/millers-point-and-its-sense-of-community-worth-more-than-expensive-views-20140321-358m1.html#ixzz34W8Rbuhv

O'Farrell government ignored consultants' advice on plan to sell public housing at Millers Points

Nicole Hasham,  Leesha McKenny  March 21, 2014

The O'Farrell government ignored advice from its own consultants on how to evict vulnerable tenants from Millers Point public housing with minimal damage to their health and wellbeing.

A planning expert who reviewed the study said the relocation appeared "clumsy" and "driven by people trying to get their hands on some quick cash".

But Community Services Minister Pru Goward said the government must balance the needs of Millers Point tenants against those of 57,000 families on the social housing waiting list.



The department will make "Every effort to assist tenants to find a property close to their preferred area.": Pru Goward. Photo: Wolter Peeters

The government will sell 300 public housing properties at Millers Point, The Rocks and Gloucester Street, saying maintenance costs and rent subsidies are too high and the proceeds will be reinvested into the social housing system. It is expected to raise hundreds of millions of dollars.
A social impact assessment into selling public housing at Millers Point, commissioned by the government and carried out last year, said some proceeds should be used to build new social housing in and around the suburb, especially for older residents.
It warned relocated residents may experience "ongoing negative impacts of stress and poor health outcomes", especially the elderly, and those with mental health issues or long-term connections to the area.

More than 40 per cent of residents are aged 60 or over and some tenants have links to the suburb stretching back five generations.

The report, by Cred Community Planning, also urged the government to help provide new affordable housing for key workers in Millers Point. It noted a fall of up to 45 per cent in private low-income rental stock in the City of Sydney between 2006 and 2011.

The government rejected the recommendations, saying funds generated by the sale would be spread across the social housing system and older people would be encouraged to "build connections in their new communities". It said the development of affordable housing at Millers Point was the City of Sydney’s responsibility.

A draft of the report was finalised earlier this year but it was not released publicly until Wednesday, the day the government announced the sale.

Ms Goward said the department would make "every effort to assist tenants to find a property close to their preferred area" but would not guarantee they can stay in or near Millers Point.

University of Sydney urban planning professor Peter Phibbs said it made sense to reinvest money from the sale into the social housing, but "the implementation strikes me as clumsy".

"It seems to be driven by people trying to get their hands on some quick cash rather than thinking about things from a policy perspective," said Professor Phibbs, who peer reviewed the consultants' report.

He said moving elderly residents away from their communities and social ties was "not a very humane policy", and was inconsistent with the government's own ageing policy.

Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore said the council's ability to reduce housing prices was limited without state or federal intervention.

"It is extraordinary that the state government is now claiming they don’t see addressing housing affordability as either a responsibility or a priority," she said.

Terry Tooher, 65, has lived at Millers Point for more than 40 years with her husband Colin, who has lived there since he was a child.

Ms Tooher said the couple would resist attempts to relocate them, adding "we are concerned about older friends and neighbours, where we could go and [if we can] go as a group to give each other support", she said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/ofarrell-government-ignored-consultants-advice-on-plan-to-sell-public-housing-at-millers-points-20140320-355yb.html#ixzz2wlH1Dzks

Long-term public tenants to be forced out of Sydney’s heritage Rocks area

March 19, 20142:45PM

Long-term resident Barney Gardner at Sydney’s Millers Point, where public housing tenants are to be evicted and rehoused

 Long-term resident Barney Gardner at Sydney’s Millers Point, where public housing tenants are to be evicted and rehoused

MORE than 400 public housing residents will be moved from their Sydney Harbour foreshore addresses following a NSW government decision to sell off the valuable properties. 
  
The residents will be rehoused over the next two years.

Just under 300 properties in the Rocks will be sold off, with the NSW government saying the money will be ploughed into the public housing system across the state.

Minister for Family and Community Services Pru Goward said the cost of maintaining heritage properties and rent subsidies in the area had become too high.

“Maintenance on properties in Millers Point costs more than four times the average for public housing dwellings in NSW,” she said. “In the last two years alone, nearly $7 million has been spent maintaining this small number of properties.

“That money could have been better spent on building more social housing, or investing in the maintenance of public housing properties across the state.”

Speaking to reporters, Ms Goward said it was unfair that residents living outside the inner city received small rental subsidies while subsidies for inner city properties cost, on average, $25,000 a year.
“For some properties it’s as high as $44,000 a year,’’ she said.

“I cannot look taxpayers in NSW in the eye, I cannot look other public housing tenants in the eye and I cannot look the 57,000 people on the waiting list in they eye when we preside over such an unfair distribution of subsidies.’’
The minister did not provide det
ails on the value of the properties but said government properties last sold in the area for an average of $1.3 million each.

It was expected they would sell for more than that now, she said.

More than 40 Housing NSW staff will help residents, some of whom had been in the area for decades, come up with a moving plan.

“It will begin with a meeting with each household to discuss their housing needs,’’ Ms Goward said.
“They might like to move closer to family and friends on the central coast, they might like to go to country NSW.

“There will be options for many of them.’’

Tenants reacted angrily to the announcement.

“We are not moving one iota,’’ said Colin Tooher, whose family have lived at the same Millers Point address for six generations.

“Think about it, (NSW Premier) Barry (O’Farrell), and think about it bloody hard.

Mr Tooher said he had only learned he would be turfed out within two years after Wednesday morning’s announcement.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore was outraged by the decision to sell off the Millers Point social housing.

“Millers Point is one of Australia’s oldest communities, in the most historic place in our country,’’ she said.

“Many residents here have connections to this area going back generations.

“More than 400 people have been betrayed by the government’s decision to sell all these properties without any consultation.’’

NSW MP and member for Sydney Alex Greenwich was also angry.

“We can’t underestimate the health and mental costs, and impact on residents of today’s cruel announcement,’’ he said.

“The government has broken their promise to the people of Millers Point that they would be consulted and that a social impact statement would be released prior to any decision.’’

7News - Govt may pocket millions in sell-off

Barangaroo forcing the pensioners and disable out.

Picking on the old and poor people, its hard for them to fightback they need a voice.

You see people getting scared, terrified, forcing them from there homes with no consultation from the department. The rapidly changing economic and financial environment is a key driver
They will find a way to isolate their victim in order to get the signature. On a political stunt. For the money, with there nasty tactics.
All you need to do Barry is have a heart.

 

The Rocks precinct facing ruin as traders flounder and vacancies skyrocket

Phil Jacob State Political Reporter  



Neil Perry's Rockpool restaurant has been closed on George St. Picture: Attila Szilvasi

15 out of 95 rentals now vacant

Long-term retailers paying up to $6000 a week

‘Mismanagement has turned us into a tourist graveyard’

IT’S the birthplace of the nation but Sydney’s world-famous The Rocks precinct is on its knees — with record rental vacancies and those still trading on the brink of ruin.

GALLERY: A WALK THROUGH TIME IN THE ROCKS 
              
With 15 of 95 commercial rentals now vacant, Urban Taskforce boss Chris Johnson has launched an unprecedented tirade against The Rocks’ managing authority, saying it was a far cry from its heyday when ­retailers were lining up to get a slice.

Mr Johnson, a former state ­government Architect and Planning Department executive director, said The Rocks was at a tipping point and needed urgent attention.

The Rocks retail precinct is in trouble. Picture: Attila Szilvasi

“I’ve never seen the Rocks like this before,” Mr Johnson said. “The Rocks was the birthplace of the nation­ and now it’s a mere shadow of its former self. We have millions of tourists visit the area every year and they come to see that? It’s an appalling tourist face for the state.
”
Chris Johnson: Rocky time for retail on Sydney doorstep
Editorial: Rocks a historical dead end 
               
Long-term retailers have bemoaned paying full rents of between $4000 to $6000 a week while ­“pop-up” traders get prime shop space for no more than $200 a week.

The area is managed by the Sydney­ Harbour Foreshore Authority, set up by Planning Minister Brad Hazzard.



Newsagent Andrew Packham is feeling the pinch. Picture: Attila Szilvasi

Newsagent Andrew Packham is a second-generation retailer now considering his future thanks to what he describes as “unfair conditions”.

“It’s about time someone said something without fear of retribution from (the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority),” Mr Packham said. “They control our leases but their mismanagement over the years has turned a precinct which was bustling only a decade ago into a tourist graveyard.”

It’s an appalling tourist face for the state

Dozens of retailers have left the area in recent years, including The Sheepskin Shop — which had traded there since 1958 — Rip Curl and David Campese’s rugby shop.

Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority CEO Catherine Gallagher last night vehemently defended her body’s governance of the area.

We are currently embarking on a transformation program of The Rocks which we know will ensure it stays lively and relevant,” she said.

“We get 14 million visitors a year who come to visit The Rocks and the retailers who reside here.

“There’s always a few people who make noises but what we’re all about is making sure we create ­reasons for people to come back.” Ms Gallagher also disagreed with the notion that the upcoming Barangaroo­ precinct would pose a threat to tourist figures.

Children outside the Whalers Arms hotel in The Rocks, Sydney, in an early, undated photo.

Interested parties have said the current crisis in The Rocks is the worst since the famous “green bans” of the early 1970s, when the then state government proposed redeveloping the area by demolishing a large amount of public housing ­occupied by working-class residents.

Opposition Planning spokesman Luke Foley said the latest drama surrounding The Rocks yet again highlighted Mr Hazzard’s inability to handle major issues.

“The situation is crying out for leadership from the minister,” Mr Foley said. “It’s about time someone started paying attention to The Rocks and the people who operate down there.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/the-rocks-precinct-facing-ruin-as-traders-flounder-and-vacancies-skyrocket/story-fni0cx12-1226843058215

Union leaders walk the Hungry Mile

By Brad Norington
June 4 2003

Martin Ferguson, John Coombs, Bob Hawke and Greg Combet at the beginning of the march down Hickson Road. Photo: Robert Pearce

In the dark days of the Depression, before such a thing as a permanent job existed on Sydney's wharves, they called it the Hungry Mile.

Workers would go from wharf to wharf in search of a job until they eventually found one - or didn't.
Hundreds walked the Hungry Mile again yesterday - but as mourners paying their respects to Tas Bull, the tough, compassionate, dry-witted former head of the Waterside Workers Federation who died last Thursday.

At the head of the procession that set off from Wharf 8, Darling Harbour, and ran most of the way down Hickson Road, was a banner carried by a wharfie and a seaman - representing the decade-old merger of two unions to form the present day Maritime Union of Australia.
And the front line boasted some of the most prominent trade union figures of the modern era.

Mr Bull's wife, Carmen, and sons Peder and Anders, were joined by ACTU bosses past and present Bob Hawke, Bill Kelty, Greg Combet, Jennie George, Martin Ferguson and the maritime union leaders John Coombs and Pat Geraghty, among others.

Behind them the city's docks lay quiet. As a mark of respect to the man who once ran a mighty union, the stevedoring companies Patrick and P&O Ports closed and gave workers the day off.
Once the procession concluded, mourners crossed the harbour in a dozen hired buses for a non-religious, but spiritual funeral service at Northern Suburbs Crematorium.

Mr Bull, whose first name, Tasnor, was a mix of his Tasmanian and Norwegian ancestry, began his working life at 14 as a seaman on British and Scandinavian ships, but then switched to the Hobart waterfront and climbed union ranks to succeed Charles Fitzgibbon in 1984 as his union's national chief.

Paddy Crumlin, who now leads the merged MUA, reminded mourners of the activism that Mr Bull packed into a very political life: campaigning for better pay and conditions, for victims of asbestos disease and for improved safety on ships.

As a committed socialist, Mr Bull was never shy about his early membership of the Communist Party and immersed himself in causes such as opposing the Vietnam War and apartheid in South Africa.
Mr Coombs, who succeeded Mr Bull when he retired in 1992, spoke of how his comrade had so many friends - even on the employers' side "once they realised their mistakes".

Mr Combet, recruited by Mr Bull and later recommended to the ACTU, which he now heads, said his former boss was his inspiration.

"I feel about him the same as I do my own father."
Sourced: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/03/1054406193082.html

Looking for the man behind the sign

Source:http://precinctnews.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/looking-for-the-man-behind-the-sign/

By Matt Dawson  October 11, 2013

#savemillerspoint

If you have travelled across Sydney Harbour Bridge in a car, on a bus or on a train in the last 15 years, the chances are you have seen it. It is visible throughout the day and illuminated at night.


 

The sign, ‘One Way! Jesus’, is clearly visible to Harbour Bridge commuters. Its constant presence has crept into the psyche of thousands of commuters.

The city’s streetscape is littered with signs. Signs are a vital part of our lives. They direct us, educate us, persuade us, inform us, cajole us, bully us. They offer us a sense of place and routine – and sometimes even comfort. Most are official signs erected by the agencies of authority.

But “One Way! Jesus’ is a private sign. It sits in the window of No.74, a top floor apartment in the Sirius apartment building in Cumberland Street, Millers Point. The occupant proves to be as elusive as the message delivered by the sign itself.

It is my fourth visit to Sirius to meet the man behind the sign. Despite a letter, a note via a friendly neighbour, dozens of calls on the external intercom and persistent door knocking, an eerie silence emanates from No. 74.

I have strategically spread my visits across different times of the day – early morning, late morning, mid-afternoon, late afternoon — in the hope of meeting him.

My expectations of uncovering an exceptional subject to interview are low. The prospect of receiving a refusal to talk does not faze me. But being ignored, that irks me. I complimented his dedication to ‘spreading the word’ in my letter. I pointed out that his sign has been seen by hundreds of thousands of Sydneysiders. Surely his Christian faith compels him to acknowledge my correspondence? Isn’t it hypocritical to promote your message to the world-at-large but eschew human contact?

Maybe I am reading too much into this. Maybe he has moved out or is sick in hospital? Is it all an elaborate hoax? Could it be that he does not exist? After all, his neighbours offer me only scant detail about him and his movements.

Monday, 10 am. A small woman wearing a yellow beanie and oversized navy sweater walks out of the building. She is carrying green calico bags. She has lived in the building since it opened in 1980, but seems only vaguely aware of the Jesus sign.

Wednesday, 3 pm. Kelly, another resident who has lived at Sirius since 1999, knows the man in No. 74.#savemillerspoint

“He is a committed Christian just trying to get his message across. So many people I meet say to me, ‘Oh, you live in that building with the Jesus sign at the top? Yes, I know the one’.” But that’s all I get from Kelly.

Thursday, 9.30 am. An elderly woman with a walking frame recalls him doing her a good deed.

Recently she left a set of keys in the mailbox downstairs and he took them up to her apartment.
Monday, 10 am. I meet a male resident who isn’t so congenial.

“That nitwit with the Jesus thing in his window? Yeah, I see him around a bit. He doesn’t say much, he’s a bit of a recluse,” he says.

Monday, 10.45 am. Finally, a breakthrough. Great-grandfather Johnny, 86, dressed in a white polo shirt tucked into brown corduroy pants, is engaged in lively conversation with a female postal worker. He is in exceptional shape for his 86 years, given that just five months ago he had open heart surgery.

Johnny knows the man in No. 74 well. He even knows his name.

In 2010, the two had a disagreement about visitor access to the prized Heritage Room, overlooking the Opera House and Circular Quay. As a result, they agreed to a mediation session at the Sydney Community Justice Centre and have now committed to treat one another with neighbourly respect.

While I now know the identity of the man in No. 74, he remains unseen and his purpose a mystery. The only insight to be gleaned is that he is learning to love thy neighbour.
#savemillerspoint

Source:http://precinctnews.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/looking-for-the-man-behind-the-sign/