It was like leaving my family: Postscript

(Thanks to Eva Bee and Design Juices)

You will recall our earlier blog called 'It was like leaving my family'.

Professor Alan Morris has written a second article about Millers Point, this time in Urban Policy and Research. It was published online on 2 June 2017 and is called 'The Removal of Millers Point Public Housing Tenants in Inner-Sydney by the New South Wales Government: Narratives of Government and Tenants'.

Professor Morris's article draws on government media material and in-depth interviews with tenants. He examines the removal process and contrasts the government’s narrative with that of the tenants. He argues that, when instrumental rationality is dominant in policy-making, then little or no attention is paid to the human cost, so long as the policy is viewed as effective. He concludes that, with the ascendency of an instrumental rationality , the mass displacement of other public housing tenants to areas not of their choosing is an ever-present possibility.

Read the full article here.

Well, the pressure is very intense on the remaining residents of Millers Point ... with more residents before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal facing imminent eviction.

The Attorney-General, Senator the Hon George Brandis QC, announced an Inquiry for the Australian Law Reform Commission on 'Protecting the Rights of Older Australians from Abuse' on 24 February 2016. It released an Issues Paper in June 2016 and a Discussion Paper in December 2016. It is required to report by May 2017 … watch this space! Here are two submissions on the Discussion Paper. They both argue that the actions of the NSW Government in Millers Point constitute systemic elder abuse. Check them out: The Millers Point Community Working Party (221) and Tenants Union of NSW (238).

It's worth checking out Luke Foley's speech at the NSW Heritage Act 40th Anniversary. Top of the list of his current threats is the fight to save the Sirius Building. He talks of an area where we have working class people being cleansed from the city. That is consistent with Professor Morris's articles and it certainly fits with what tenants and former tenants of Millers Point are saying.