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Sydney writers festival edition
www.millerspointcommunity.com.au
THE Millers Point TIMES
Newsletter of the Friends of Millers Point – Written by John Dunn and authorised and Kelli Haynes – 26 Pottinger Street, Dawes Point
Welcome to Millers Point
What you can do
The Millers Point community welcomes
Vivid and the Sydney Writers Festival.
In nine months from now, the NSW
Government is planning the final
eradication of a community that has
existed in this neighbourhood since the
beginning of European settlement. We
are witnessing the forced relocation of
families who have lived in this area for
five, six and seven generations.
Our community stretches across
Millers Point, Dawes Point and The
Rocks. These are the principal locations
of the Sydney Writers’ Festival, which
has offices in The Rocks, and most of its
events are in Dawes Point and Millers
Point. Many SWF visitors will be
unaware when sitting in the front rows
of the Roslyn Packer Theatre, they are
less than 100 metres from the homes of
Mary Vo and her neighbours. See the
back page for an introduction to Mary
Vo and how to save her from eviction.
Mary Vo’s is one of four petitions
launched by the Friends of Millers Point.
There are also petitions to save Flo
and Myra from eviction. In the fourth
petition, Jack Mundey, who headed the
BLF Green Bans that saved The Rocks in
the 1970s and provided the impetus for
the Greens Parties throughout the world,
has stepped forward again to save the
workers flats that housed the families
of those who walked the Hungry Mile,
and to save the Sirius apartments that
were built for The Rocks community as a
result of the 1970s Green Bans.
You can keep the stories of the Millers
Point community alive. You can do this
by reading and sharing these stories.
Where will you find the stories? Some
are pinned to homes in Millers Point and
Dawes Point, but many of those were
taken down by Housing NSW officers.
The same stories of residents are
posted on the community website…
www.MillersPointCommunity.com.au
On this site are links to petitions and the
latest Millers Point news. News is also
on the Save Millers Point Facebook page,
where some posts have reached more
than 40,000 people. Or go directly to the
online petitions – addresses are on the
back page. You are invited to comment at
all of these online sites. The community
would love to hear from you. Add your
comments when signing the petitions,
and when visiting the community
website and Facebook page.
Lights out in the heart of sydney
Built in 1831 on Millers Point’s largest
block of land at 50 Argyle Place is the
jewel in the crown of Housing NSW.
The new Minister for Social Housing
Brad Hazzard says this property must
be sold to fund ten new public housing
units. This argument is well known,
but fewer people know that the Millers
Point community has also been calling
for the sale of the Millers Point mansions
which became public housing almost by
accident. The government has not been
able to maintain these properties and
they are falling apart through neglect,
water penetration and the Termite
Highway (Housing NSW’s name for the
termite nests that run through many of
the empty houses of Millers Point).
Everybody is on the same side of this
argument: sell the grand old homes of
Millers Point. Where opinions differ
is in respect to the community. We
believe the houses can be sold but the
community kept in Millers Point.
Millers Point has a high proportion of
old, vulnerable, long-term residents who
prosper within this community because
they have strong ‘circles of support’.
This is a community where people
know and look out for one another.
Relocating the elderly and vulnerable
members of this community away from
those who support them will result in
their isolation, loss of independence,
decline in health, and some will die as
has happened in a handful of cases in the
past twelve months.
Millers Point is a success story for
public housing. The government should
celebrate and work to save this thriving
community that includes many social
housing tenants.
Saving the Millers Point community
begins by selling most of the 19thcentury houses, beginning with those
that have been vacant for years. Houses
that are still occupied could stay as they
are for now, especially if the tenants
are elderly and have lived here a long
time. These occupied houses could be
sold later, or the residents could move to
other accommodation in Millers Point or
if they chose, be relocated out of the area.
The government owns so much
other property in Millers Point aside
from these grand 19th-century houses.
At the beginning of the 20th century
the government undertook a massive
flat-building program in Millers Point,
Dawes Point and The Rocks, which
coincided with its redevelopment of
wharves, wharehouses and roads.
The workers flats they built are more
modest and less valuable than the 19thcentury houses. They are also in better
condition. All or some of these should be
retained for social housing. After this,
in the 1970s Housing NSW built more
flats in the area, most notably the Sirius
building in The Rocks. Sirius is in good
condition and could be retained entirely,
or some of its more valuable units sold
and the others kept for social housing.
This would provide a better financial
outcome than even the most optimistic
calculations by the government for its
sale. These are some of the options the
community has wanted to discuss with
the state government, but until recently,
the government had refused to consider
alternatives to the complete sell-off of
Millers Point, Dawes Point and The
Rocks, and previous ministers have
neither met nor visited the community.
Now there could be a change of heart.
New minister Brad Hazzard is
meeting the community and discussing
options that might save the Millers Point
community. Recently he was quoted in
the Herald saying, “I’m not ruling out
trying to get more public housing in and
around the Millers Point area.” This is
very heartening news for the community.
Since All Souls Night last year,
SOS lights has flashed from the top
of Sirius every night. Directly across
from the Overseas Passenger Terminal,
these lights were seen by thousands of
departing tourists on hundreds of cruise
ships. Tourists and locals alike have read
the stories of S.O.S. Save Our Sirius and
visited the comunity website and the
Save Millers Point Facebook page. For
a few weeks these lights have been off.
They are going back on for Vivid, but the
community is hoping to hammer out a
solution with Minister Hazzard so the
SOS lights can be turned off for good.
SAVE MARY VO FROM EVICTION
https://www.change.org/p/hon-mike-baird-mp-let-our-elderly-neighbour-stay-in-her-home
‘Mrs Mary Vo, a mother, grandmother, widow, former refugee and our beautiful neighbour, is being evicted from her home through no fault of her own. Mrs Vo often says,
“thank you very much Australia Government and Australians” for the “freedom for
life.” A survivor of significant trauma and loss, she was always cheerful. Now she is
often in tears.’ Read her story and sign her petition to save her from eviction.
SAVE MYRA FROM EVICTION
https://www.change.org/p/save-myra-from-eviction
‘Myra is 88 years old and blind and has lived in this community since 1959. Through
her own determination and with the support of those around her, she is able to lead an
active and independent life. Myra is a volunteer church and community worker and an
inspiration to the people who know her. The State Government wants to ‘relocate’ Myra
away from the only place she knows.’ Please read Myra’s story and sign her petition.
SAVE FLO FROM EVICTION
https://www.change.org/p/gabrielle-upton-mike-baird-save-flo-from-eviction
‘Flo was born in Millers Point 81 years ago. Her father worked on the wharves and
walked the Hungy Mile. Times were tough through the Depression and the war. Her
dad was killed in a waterfront accident in 1953. At 19 Flo married Ted who also worked
on the wharves all his life. The day after Ted’s funeral Flo was handed a letter saying she
was to move to a new home.’ Please read Flo’s story and sign her petition.
Make a stand alongside Jack Mundey
https://www.change.org/p/gabrielle-upton-mike-baird-save-the-millers-point-workers-flats
‘More than forty years ago, Jack Mundey and the BLF joined with Nita McCrae and
The Rocks Resident Action Group to save The Rocks from high-rise development. In
2015, Jack Mundey is once more standing together with residents to save Millers Point.
Please sign this petition to save the workers’ flats, the Sirius apartments and the future
of public housing in Millers Point.’