The Millers Point Millions - where are they now?

Yesterday we noted Shelter NSW's publication of Professor Alan Morris's report "A contemporary forced urban removal: The displacement of public housing residents from Millers Point, Dawes Point and the Sirius Building by the New South Wales Government".

Image credit: Lachlan Bennett

The report is timely since Minister for Social Housing Brad Hazzard, and several of his counterparts in related portfolios, have recently been quizzed in the Budget Estimates hearings, including questions on issues surrounding Millers Point. This gives us an up-to-the-minute insight into the Government's views on the sell-off, and why they have persevered despite the community's anguish that has now been documented by Professor Morris.

Here's the transcript of an exchange between Minister Hazzard and the Hon. Paul Green, MLC:

The Hon. PAUL GREEN: Can you update the Committee with regard to the current public housing situation at Millers Point and how the Government has responded to the needs of those vulnerable housing tenants, ensuring they are adequately housed and not displaced from ageing in place? 

Mr BRAD HAZZARD: It is a challenge. It is a difficult issue. The Government took a view which was that those particular properties were worth so much—as you are aware, when I became Minister I had a chat to the Premier and others about this issue. Initially the view was that each one of those properties could sell for between $1.5 million or $2 million, and possibly $5 million or $6 million. The $2 million sale of one very old property—usually more than 100 years old, with challenging maintenance issues, and often with an elderly individual living in it—could lead to the rehousing of six families or individuals from the waiting list of 60,000.

Just on this point, the residents' in Professor Morris's report speak at some length about the maintenance issues in their homes. For example, one resident says:

I think there was a long-term plan … As I say there's an upstairs and downstairs in High Street and about every six months they had to re-tar the roofs up there you know … because the heat would make it bubble up and crack and once it cracked it was you know leaking with the water with the rain coming in. So they had to resurface it … and that’s what the Maritime [Services Board] used to do. When Housing took over there was none of that and as I say the water just went right through the places. So there was a long-term plan [of neglect] I'd say, yeah.

 And another says:

Yeah, it was obvious they were never going to fix any of the properties. Some of the properties were in such a terrible state of repairs, [but] it wouldn’t matter how many times we called them, they wouldn’t come and attend to anything. I don’t know if it was purposely intended to demoralise us. I think it was their plan for a very long time that they were going to sell the buildings, so there wasn’t any point in fixing them up. I mean it sort of became more apparent especially when the news broke that we were all getting moved.

But back to the Minister's response:

As much as that was a difficult decision for the Government, the fact was that the sale could raise half a billion dollars and build about 1,500 new homes. That was the policy decision that was taken to try to address the very long public housing waiting list ... I do not know whether you have seen the really good Auditor-General's report from three or four years ago. I was fascinated to read it because he talked about the fact that the former Government had been forced—as governments sometimes are—to make the decision to reduce the amount of public housing because it had to pay maintenance on the properties. In a sense, it was eating public housing.

It's a good analogy - the idea that public housing was eating itself in order maintain its bloated remnants is a compelling picture of where the portfolio was headed under the previous administration. But we can apply a similar analogy to the current Government's policy. Instead of eating itself, the public housing portfolio is chewing itself up, before taking aim and spitting itself out into somebody else's backyard.

We've been trying to keep track of the number and location of new properties being built with the Millers Point Millions. In recent correspondence, FACS Housing informed us that:

So far, nearly 650 properties have either commenced construction or have been completed utilising the proceeds of the Millers Point sales program.

... which rather sounds like they've just rolled the Millers Point Millions into a couple of their existing projects. Still, as long as it's all going towards new social housing, and keeping the construction machines well oiled, we should have little to complain about. It's all about the greater good, after all.

But what can you buy with the proceeds of an inner-city suburb?

A quick look at where these new properties are being built reveals this "greater good" means no new social housing within cooee of the community that's being cannibalised.

Download the PDF for a better look.

Of the nearly 650 new properties, 246 are within Sydney's middle-ring, 336 are in the outer-ring, and 58 are in Wollongong. Evidently, social and economic diversity is no longer an inner-city aspiration, despite the continuing demand for social and affordable housing in Sydney's inner-ring.

And we're still none-the-wiser about which specific projects are being paid for with the Millers Point Millions, and in what specific amounts. How many bedsits? How many 2 or 3 bedroom flats? How many family homes?

To date, the sale of 94 public housing properties in Millers Point has netted the Government around $264million. That's about a third of the properties that have been earmarked for sale, and it's already more than half of what the Government has anticipated it will gain.

Brutal ... how residents describe the actions of Housing NSW in Millers Point

You will recall that in March 2014 Housing NSW decided to remove all public housing tenants from the suburb of Millers Point. The Tenants' Union of NSW has written extensively about this situation and you may read our accounts  here  and  here.

Many former residents of Millers Point and those still remaining have been far from happy and their experiences have just been documented in a paper by Professor Alan Morris, Institute for Public Policy and Governance, University of Technology  Sydney. His paper is entitled ‘A contemporary forced urban removal: The displacement of public housing residents from Millers Point, Dawes Point and the Sirius Building by the New South Wales Government’.

What is so powerful about Professor Morris’s documentation is that he allows the residents to tell the story of their displacement in their own words. This paper concludes:

What is evident is that the actual and intended removal of public housing residents from Millers Point unleashed a great deal of hardship and distress. ... In sum, the way the New South Wales government has gone about the move was viewed by most interviewees as brutal. ... The announcement that all residents were to be moved was catastrophic for some residents and precipitated extreme anxiety and depression.

You may read Professor Morris' s full report which has been published by Shelter NSW here.

The above stories contrast with what appears on the website of NSW Family and Community Services. Here you will find the stories of four former residents who appear happy with being forced to relocate.  You will find these stories here.

Following Professor Morris's documentation of the experience of residents, he wrote a thought provoking article entitled 'Why moving out public housing tenants is a tragedy for Millers Point and for Sydney' for The Conversation and in this article asks some very important questions. Check it out here.

The Tenants’ Union of NSW again has argued that the actions of the NSW Government in Millers Point are a form of systemic elder abuse. You can read its submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission's 'Elder Abuse Inquiry' here.

However, it is not too late for the NSW Government to review the situation and allow the remaining residents to stay, especially the older folk who should be able to age-in-place. We've said this before and we say it again. Over to you, NSW Government!


This posting was updated on Monday, 12 September 2016. It now includes references to Professor Alan Morris's article entitled 'Why moving out public housing tenants is a tragedy for Millers Point and for Sydney' published in The Conversation on 12 September 2016 and the Tenants' Union of NSW's submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission's Elder Abuse Inquiry, also published on 12 September 2016.

Sydney's stone, cold heart

We're saddened by the weekend's news that Sydney's iconic Sirius Building will not be listed on the NSW Heritage Register, despite the unanimous recommendation of the Heritage Council of NSW back in February.

Minister for Environment and Heritage, Mr Mark Speakman, announced on Sunday that he would not list the site on the Heritage Register, as to do so would reduce its resale value and deprive the State - or perhaps more specifically, pockets of Sydney's west - of money to build more social housing. This is despite the higher than anticipated earnings from the sale of other properties around Millers Point, and the remaining properties that would see in excess of $880million brought in if prices continue at current trends.

Minister Speakman says:

I am not listing it because whatever its heritage value, even at its highest that value is greatly outweighed by what would be a huge loss of extra funds from the sale of the site, funds the government intends to use to build social housing for families in great need.

This is a slap in the face for the community of public housing tenants who have made their homes in the purpose-built Sirius Building, which is part of what has given it its Heritage value in the first place. And it's a huge blow to the remaining tenants of Millers Point who still look to Sirius with hope that it could hold what's left of their community together.

It also raises that nagging question about social mix in New South Wales - why do we fall all over ourselves to open up "welfare dependent" communities of public housing in Sydney's western suburbs, by handing it over to private interests for "renewal", while clearing low-income tenants out of those parts of Sydney we'd rather just flog to the highest bidder? It's not like they couldn't benefit from a bit of social and economic diversity in those parts themselves. No, scratch that. It's not like they haven't benefited, with Millers Point recently finding its way into the top-ten of a "liveability index" for Sydney's suburbs, on account of its "rich history and culture". Although how you can define a suburb as "liveable" while most of its long-term residents are in the process of being shipped out by a cash-strapped landlord is perhaps a matter for debate.

As for Sirius, we'll always regard it as part of what makes Sydney great. The lives, the characters, the community that is attached to that building must never be forgotten, even if they are to be lost. True, the Government hasn't quite sold it yet, and there's still time for them to reconsider their plans. But the decision not to list it on the Heritage Register is as clear an indication as you'll get that they would allow all this to be destroyed.

So who will buy it? What will they do? There are calls for a new Green Ban to be imposed on the site, again reflecting part of its very history that gives it Heritage value. We'd like to see that, if such a thing is possible in this day and age. Because even if you leave the question of heritage aside altogether, the day the Sirius Building comes down is the day Sydney's loses its heart.

The significance of Sirius

You may recall our postings on The Brown Couch on 21 November 2015 called 'Get serious about Sirius' and on 4 February 2016 called 'Endgame for Millers Point?'. In the latter article we noted that relocating displaced Millers Point residents to the Sirius Building remains an option for Government, should they choose to pursue it.

You may also recall that the Heritage Council of NSW spent the last quarter of 2015 considering the heritage value of the Sirius building. Well, they have just placed the minutes of its meeting on 2 December 2015 on the Internet. Its members unanimously made a series of recommendations to the Minister for Heritage for the listing of the Sirius Building.

Members noted the association with the Green Ban Movement. The Sirius Apartment Building is an embodiment of the outcome of the Green Bans in The Rocks which also led to the creation of the Heritage Act 1977 and the Heritage Council. They noted the aesthetic significance and rarity in social housing context of the Sirius Apartment Building and the unique circumstances associated with historic events that occurred in this particular place. They noted the site is a rare physical remnant as a purpose-built social housing project in The Rocks area, as other accommodation reused private housing. They discussed each criterion in detail and requested that the historical and association links to the Green Ban Movement be added to the rarity criteria.

Members reached a unanimous view that the item does meet the criteria at a state level, based on information provided by experts. They agreed to recommend the listing to the Minister for his decision. They resolved that the Heritage Council of NSW:

- Considers that the Sirius Building is of state significance, for its aesthetic and rarity values
- Advises the Minister that the Sirius Apartment Building is of state heritage significance
- Recommends that the Minister direct the listing of the Sirius Apartment Building on the State Heritage Register
- Directs the Heritage Division to work with the Owner to prepare site specific exemptions in accordance with the Heritage Act 1977, for future Heritage Council recommendation to the Minister

The Council has also suggested the building could be "sympathetically" modified for new and mixed uses, so the Sirius Building could be lost to the public housing portfolio, and Sydney's social mix diluted, even if a heritage listing is achieved.

The residents of Millers Point await the Minister's next move.

You can read the complete recommendations here (see Agenda Item 5.2 on pages 6, 7 and 16).

Re-opening the case of the lost public housing tenancies

Two years ago, as the historic suburb of Millers Point was finally being eyed off by a state government desperate for revenue, the Tenants Union noticed that due to that very history, many of the properties being eyed off were exempt from the Residential Tenancies Act, and from the jurisdiction of the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Last week, as reports of the first official notices of termination for Millers Point residents come in, we discovered that Housing has closed that exemption- making the job of removing residents somewhat easier.

You can read more about the exemption in the original blog post, and its implications in a Shelter NSW briefing paper- both of which will now require some amendment to be current, but are still very good documents of the situation at the time.

Back then, we alerted Housing NSW and their legal team to this exemption and they were unaware of the issue. We figured it created as many problems as it solved for the residents, and would have increased the cost of any disputes beyond the reach of most of the people affected- except for HNSW's legal team.

That said, we are disappointed this change came without notice or consultation from FACS Housing. If not for the vigilant eyes of tenant advocates, residents of these properties may not have seen the change before relying on the regulation as it had been until only a few days ago. Government should be open and transparent in its dealings, particularly when it comes to the dealing of land. Changing the legal status of hundreds of vulnerable people is not something that should happen in the dark, tucked away down the back of the Government Gazette.

Proposed repeal of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1899

Last week the Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation, the Hon. Victor Dominello, introduced the Fair Trading Legislation (Repeal and Amendment) Bill 2015 into the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. Among other things, this bill will repeal the Landlord and Tenant Act 1899.

In his second reading speech, the Minister said that the 1899 Act is surplus to the State's statutory requirements. This is not right, because it plays a critical role in determining the way a property can be recovered if it is subject to a protected tenancy. It has a few other functions, too, like providing a bit of a backstop for some tenants who are excluded from the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 - such as those in the case of the lost public housing heritage tenancies.

True, the Landlord and Tenant Act 1899 is not very frequently put to work - at least not directly. And it is also true that much of the work it does is unlikely to be seen in the harsh light of day... but that doesn't make it superfluous. Getting rid of it would be like taking the headlights out of your car because you only ever drive to lunch. One day you might need to stay out a little later than usual, and it's only then that you will understand the true nature of your problem.

The Tenants' Union's full comment on the proposed repeal of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1899 can be found on our webiste.

Sydney’s Concrete Poetry

Today's guest appearance is from Mary Sutton, a resident of Millers' Point. We are very pleased to be able to share her presentation made to the Getting Serious about Sirius event at NSW Parliament House in November. It is a long read, but well worth it- so settle in and enjoy!


Sirius is prominently located right in the middle of The Rocks, a Sydney conservation precinct. I'm pleased to speak today about the historical importance of the Sirius apartment complex and its site. I'm Mary Sutton and I've always loved the Sirius building for its;-impressive sandstone hill site,
-bold architecture,
-innovative adaptation of art, and
-collaborative design

All elements that have seamlessly combined to provide treasured homes for the residents since Sirius was constructed in 1979. 

Sirius was built following a lengthy period of discussions and negotiations. Sirius arose out of The Rocks 1970’s Green bans, a movement prominently associated with Jack Mundey, a later patron of the Friends of the Historic Houses Trust. 

Richard Roddewig, in his book ‘Green Bans: The Birth of Australian Environmental Politics - A Study in Public Opinion and Participation’, writes
‘In 1975, a major compromise was reached. Green Bans were lifted on three specific sites. The Sydney Cove Redevelopment Cove Authority, in conjunction with The Housing Commission of New South Wales, proposed to develop on one of the sites as eighty housing units, in a medium-rise, nine-story building, for affordable income persons’.

A welcoming brochure was produced in 1979 for the newly housed residents by The Housing Commission of New South Wales. The brochure proudly noted that:
‘The stepped roofline and face of the building were planned to blend and harmonise in good neighbourly fashion with the general roofscape of The Rocks. Shading precast concrete sills surround bronze anti-sun glass resiliently mounted to reduced noise and glare.
The new building has been named “Sirius” in honour of the First Fleet, HMS “Sirius” and her commander, Captain Arthur Phillip. Off the main entrance foyer is a large community room,the “Phillip Room” with generous outdoor plaza, tasteful furnishings, kitchen facilities & toilets.
The Housing Commission’s apartment building makes a spectacular addition to the transformation and restoration of The Rocks, Sydney’s most historic neighbourhood, near where in the early days the Tank Stream, flowing into the bay, provided drinking water for the tiny new colony. Cave shelters, humpies, stone cottages~all were stuff of the Colony’s history.’

As my fellow speaker Charles Pickett, a curator and noted architecture author has just commented
‘A small number of public housing towers were ground-breaking architecturally and widely influential. Some public housing complexes were so successful architecturally that they eventually became sought-after and expensive addresses. Le Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitation at Marseille, Lafayette Park, Detroit by Mies van der Rohe and London’s Barbican Estate are perhaps the best known. For much of the twentieth century the Australian housing authorities also worked at the cutting edge of housing theory and practice. Sirius is a success story of public housing design.
Sirius is a special building – not generic in format like much public housing, Sirius shows the potential of architecture geared to its site and its residents. It deserves to continue to be a part of The Rocks. ’

Most mornings I stroll along Gloucester Walk in The Rocks with Sirius sitting high on the prominent land of Bunkers Hill. The Sirius building always looks imposing. I think of the Sirius building as ‘concrete poetry’. 

Photographs taken from the 1979 residents ‘welcoming brochure’ (above and below) depict the simple, but innovative, off-form concrete walls, combined with acid-etched picture windows, to produce Sirius’ distinct stabled building block appearance, reminiscent ‘of a Native American pueblo’.

Sirius shares ‘the magnificent panorama of the harbour in all its moods, the exciting city skyline, and nestling against the Harbour Bridge approaches…..just across the water from the famed Opera House.’

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to showcase what some may call an ‘unpolished diamond’ to the seven members of the NSW Government's Legislative Council Housing Select Committee.
Thank you to The Hon Paul Green [Chair] and the members of the Upper House Committee for taking the time to see first hand why the Sirius building is an architectural, heritage and mixed tenure, social housing success - a cost effective asset for Sydney - the best example I know of 'Concrete Poetry'. 

The Sirius apartment building is named after Governor Phillip's First Fleet vessel, HMS Sirius - a vessel scarcely larger than a Manly ferry - an adventurous little vessel that traversed the world's seas with its unwilling passengers to arrive in Sydney in January 1788. 

Sadly, this crucial supply vessel was sunk at Norfolk Island whilst landing vital food supplies and lost forever to the fledging Sydney Cove community on 19 March, 1790. George Raper, a naval officer and illustrator, recorded this melancholy event in his wonderful drawing held by the National Library of Australia and depicted in the drawing (below courtesy of National Library of Australia) you have today. 

We are now gathered because of a second equally significant 19 March Sirius event – an announcement by the NSW Government earlier this year on that date that is writing another chapter in the history of the Sirius building. 

What I'd like you to consider today is what makes Sirius and its site so notable. I must start by noting that the Sirius building sits prominently on land owned by the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority (SHFA) and part of the answer to the question, I think, lies with the vision of SHFA "to make unique places in Sydney that the world talks about". 

‘Does the Sirius building and its location satisfy this SHFA vision?’ you might ask. ‘Is the Sirius building and its location a ‘unique place in Sydney that the world talks about’? It seems ‘yes’.
We have heard much today of the uniqueness of the Sirius building, particularly its architecture and concrete construction and its international recognition as such.

 There is also much historical evidence of the uniqueness of Sirius’ Bunkers Hill location, as depicted in:
* the earliest colonial drawings of
-John Eyre,
-Jacob Janssen,
-Thomas Watling,
-Richard Read,
-Joseph Lycett,
-Conrad Martens, and
-Frederick Garling,
* Governors' Phillip, Hunter and King's official Colony papers, and
* all the way through to the sights and sounds as you stroll along Gloucester Walk today, as many Sydney and international visitors do. 

Richard Read ‘View from Bunkers Hill Including Dawes Battery, Fort Lachlan & South Head Lighthouse’ c.1820 Mitchell Library (above)

Conrad Martens ‘View Sydney Cove from Bunkers Hill July 2, 1836’ Mitchell Library of NSW (above)

From what we've just heard from some of the other speakers, there is no doubt in my mind that the Sirius building and its location are unique places in Sydney that the world talks about – something that SHFA and the residents of Sydney and Australia can quite rightly be proud of.
The Sirius building and its location are social, tourism, educational, cultural, commercial and conservation assets for NSW.

The world has talked of Sirius' and it location in many ways, including:
1. The opportunistic sailor who foundered the colonial whaling industry and sometime Liverpool, Hawkesbury River and Hunter Valley farmer, Ebenezer (Eber) Bunker, is said by Governor Hunter to have ‘cultivated in a style one would expect from a sailor’, (SMH 2/3/29). Captain Bunker was granted the site on which the majority of the Sirius complex now stands, for some services to Governor King, a site that was known until at least the 1830's as Bunkers Hill. 

Eber Bunker was a master mariner and landholder credited with being the "father of Australian whaling".  The Sydney Morning Herald of 2 March 1929 records, ‘On his vessel being moored in Port Jackson in 1791 he had an interview with Governor Phillip and astounded that gentleman by his calculations of the possible great profits for a whaling industry for the new settlement…..Within six months he had secured 600 barrels of oil to enhance the interests of the Colony ( and no doubt himself).’ 

Bunker’s arrival in New South Wales in 1791 was as master of the ship “William and Ann" (with 185 involuntary passengers aboard), one of the whalers chartered to bring early prisoners to ‘Botany Bay’. He then went whaling in the South Seas and he later accompanied the "Lady Nelson" in the vessel "Albion" to establish the Derwent settlement in Tasmania in 1803. 

Bunker brought his family to the Colony in the "Elizabeth" in August 1806. He became a landholder at Bunkers Hill, Liverpool, Bankstown on the Hawkesbury and the Hunter Valley. Bunker had built a stone house and stores atop Bunkers Hill (replacing his earlier wattle and daub c. early 1800’s structure) and from this high ground in The Rocks with views to the Heads, Kirribilli and the Parramatta River, Eber ran his global whaling empire.

Watercolour Eber Bunker, c.1810. Courtesy State Library of New South Wales

Eber Bunker’s achievements in having the world talk about him also included presenting the first West Australian black swan to the King of England and some cumbersome limited use weaponry to Hawaii's king to support a request ‘to be kind to the missionaries’, (SMH 2/3/29), together with naming Bunkers Islands in Queensland and various New Zealand islands. 

Eber Bunker’s house stood on Gloucester Street at Bunkers Hill from 1806, later hemmed in by taller, more elegant terraces, with his house being demolished around 1912 as part of the Rocks reconstruction works (Sirius was built on the central part of this land in 1977-1979).

2. The HMS “Sirius” association represents a tangible link to the most significant vessel associated with early migration of European people to Australia and to the “Sirius” midshipman, Captain Henry Waterhouse, a godson of Prince Henry, the younger brother of King George lll. Some short time after his arrival in the Colony, Captain Waterhouse was granted land on which the northern apartments of the present Sirius complex now sit. HMS “Sirius” was guardian of the first fleet during its epic voyage to Australia between 1787 and 1788, which brought the convicts, soldiers and sailors who became Australia’s first permanent European settlers.

HMS “Sirius” was also the mainstay of early colonial defence in New South Wales and the primary supply and communication link with Great Britain during the first two years of the settlement (Source: Heritage Council of Australia).

The careers of the first three governors’ of the colony of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip (1788-1792), John Hunter (1795-1800) and Philip Gidley King (1800-1806) are closely associated with the history of HMS “Sirius” as all three sailed as senior officers on board HMS Sirius during the voyage of the first fleet to New South Wales. Hunter was also Captain of HMS “Sirius” during its last ill-fated voyage in 1790, when it was totally wrecked at Norfolk Island. The loss of HMS “Sirius” at Norfolk Island on 19 March 1790 was a disaster for the fledgling colony during a period of crisis, when the settlement at Port Jackson was in danger of collapse and abandonment.

It has been argued by some that the adaptability, ingenuity and grim determination to survive, demonstrated by the colonists at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island following this disaster, became an enduring trait of the Australian people.

3. Wharf Owner Robert Campbell, Cumberland Place, Bunkers Hill and Waterhouse Land.

F Garling’s c.1840 “Sydney Cove” a view towards Bunkers Hill (center), Lower Fort St and Dawes Battery Mitchell Library

Captain Waterhouse left Australia permanently in 1800 and leased his grant covering part of the Sirius site to Campbell Cove's famous wharf owner Robert Campbell. In the 1830’s the town leases, grants and permissive occupancies of the past were formalized and Robert Russell produced section plans showing the owners of the land (SHFA Heritage and Conservation Register). This part of the site remained unoccupied land until the 1840’s, as did much of Bunkers Hill land surrounding Bunker’s house in current Gloucester Walk. In the 1820's Robert Campbell developed the prestigious landholding of Cumberland Place, designed by Francis Greenway, on his Bunkers Hill land, adjacent to his Waterhouse grant and nearby wealthy Dawes Point wharf and landowners. Garling captures Bunker’s Hill c.1840 above.

4. The Mitchell Library's benefactor, David Mitchell, was born in 1836 in Campbell’s Bunkers Hill’s elegant ‘cottage ornee’ at Cumberland Place (since demolished) and Mitchell spent his childhood there before moving with his large library to modern digs in Darlinghurst. Mitchell famously collected colonial documents associated with Bunkers Hill, (Sirius' site) and all aspects of Colonial Sydney maps, art and memorabilia to found the Mitchell Library Collection.

5. Australia’s first Prime Minister Edward Barton lived as a child in the 1850’s in one of the Young’s townhouses. This four storied townhouse (three stories with a basement kitchen) was one of a terrace of three houses built by Adolphus Young on land developed adjacent to Bunker's land on Gloucester Walk in the early 1840’s and may have been designed by John Verge’s protégé, John Bibb, (who also built the nearby Mariners Church). The imposing terrace of three homes survived until the early 1900's Rocks reconstruction project. This land forms part of the Sirius site today.

6. Innovative concrete technology and an early example of Australian public town planning can still be readily viewed as the Federal Electrical Company (Ajax Building) on the corner of Gloucester Walk and George Street – also a part of the “Sirius” Captain Waterhouse's land grant. This concrete technology and the Arts and Craft movement design of the building, was developed by the recently formed New South Wales Housing Board’s architect, William Henry Foggitt, in association with the Public Works Department, for The Rocks reconstruction works during the period 1912-15. Occupiers included Young and Stewart cordial manufacturers.

In January 1915, the Sydney Morning Herald reported this was the first building in Sydney to be constructed entirely of reinforced concrete. The building was a warehouse, with an office building on the top of the southern end of the building. Several bays of the building’s southern end and the office building were demolished when the Sirius complex was built. This inspirational concrete technology was later used on Millers Point’s High Street flats. Concrete's innovating impact was a feature of the inspirational Sirius building constructed by Anderson & Lloyd, described as a ‘bold and exceptional experiment’ in ‘Concrete’s Rearview’.

7. Sirius now sits on the location of a major employer in the Rocks, Rowans Bond and The Federal Electrical Company, (Ajax Building) that utilised modern loading and storage technology. 

8. Sirius was the 1986 setting for the movie of Ruth Park's popular novel ‘Playing Beatie Bow’.

Sirius in 2014- the continuing conversation
The most recent example of the world talking of the Sirius building, and its rare and important position in Sydney, was in response to the NSW Government's 19 March 2014 announcement of the sale of the Sirius building, which was reported in local and international press. 

People have also commented recently about the Select Committee's hard won recommendation, I think directed at the Sirius building, that the NSW Government, when selling multi-unit properties in the Sydney area, include in the contract for sale, a requirement that at least 10 per cent of all dwellings on that site be allocated as social, public and affordable housing.

Each unique aspect I've cited has stamped its mark on the Sirius building and its location as a rare and important place talked about in the world's press and by visitors. For me, I'm attracted to the description of the Sirius building as simply "concrete poetry".

I imagine that SHFA and all of Sydney must regard the interest in the Sirius building and its site, and modern day Bunkers Hill including Gloucester Walk, as an inspired and visionary success.
In concluding, you have heard much today about the Sirius building and its location and I invite you to walk around the Rocks and take time to ponder all that's been said.

Consider the "concrete poetry" of the Sirius building, its location and its history. Its connection to Sydney's past and the value of its contribution to the present and what may be its future. 

If you would like to continue the conversation, the Minister for Heritage, the Hon. Rob Stokes address is 52 Martin Place, Sydney 2000 and I'm sure he'd be interested in hearing your view.
Thank you for your time.

Photograph of Sirius Level 8 Balcony by Mary Sutton ~ March 12 2014 Site Visit with the Legislative Council Housing Select Committee

Getting Serious about Sirius

A guest appearance today from our Executive Officer, Julie Foreman on the importance of the Sirius apartments in Sydney's heritage.

“A landmark building”

“Housing is more than real estate”

“Cities should not be enclaves of the rich”

These are just a few comments from the speakers of a forum I attended last week. Held at the NSW Parliament, the forum shone a light on the social and historical importance of the Sirius building. Speakers reflected on important themes – many of which have been left out of the Government’s analysis and policy development regarding the Millers Point sell off.

Sirius apartments, watercolour and ink on board. Powerhouse Museum collection 2013/36/1

Panel members at the forum were the architect of the Sirius building, Tao Gofers, the Chair of Urban Planning and Policy at University of Sydney Professor Peter Phibbs, the Director of City Futures at University of NSW Professor Bill Randolph, curator and architecture writer Charlie Pickett, and Millers Point resident Mary Sutton.

They led an insightful discussion about the importance, and the history of social and affordable housing in NSW. I learnt much, including the fact that the compact kitchen we enjoy in apartments today was the result of the design and development of public housing in Holland in the 1920’s!

We heard about the iconic importance of Sirius - purpose built by the then Housing Commission. Tao Gofers, the architect talked with enthusiasm of breaking new ground with the design, which had input from the Resident Action Group and the Government.

The design is practical and beautiful; with murals in the entrance inspired by Spanish cave paintings, a photographic mural of the city skyline captured in 1978 hangs in the community room and pictures of the Harbour Bridge in various stages of completion adorn the walls of each of the floors. The roof visible to many via the Harbour Bridge became an important part of the design with roof top gardens.

Professor Peter Phibbs was the peer reviewer for the social impact assessment for the Millers Point sales. He expressed his astonishment that the Sirius building which was not included in the social impact study was then included in the sale proposal! No subsequent social impact of the sale of Sirius has been undertaken.

Peter noted that Sirius did not raise the same repair and maintenance issues as other homes in Millers Point. In fact it was a shining example of a number of Government policy directions – aging in place, need for smaller social housing stock and social mix.

He described the sales as a ‘clumsy and cruel’ policy particularly because of its impact on elderly tenants and because there are other financially viable alternatives. Options such as:
· building new purpose built homes for Millers Point residents or
· relocating residents from Millers Point to Sirius to maintain their social connections or
· slowing the sale process to allow residents to age in place or conducting a partial sale and using the funds to facilitate the sustainable upkeep of the remaining dwellings. [At least two independent, expert reports have identified financial viable alternatives]

Professor Bill Randolph broadened the debate to discuss the impact of the sale on all of Sydney and put it in an international context. His research demonstrates that Sydney is polarising, both socially and economically. Moving away from the more egalitarian city that existed 30 years ago, inner Sydney is set to become an enclave for the rich. Bill acknowledged that the real estate boom has only assisted a few and that Treasury today views public housing as a financial asset to be exploited rather than a social asset. You would have to agree with him that that seeing a city as “purely as real estate shows no imagination or maturity”. Sirius is a social asset paid for by all of us and belonging to all of us.

This is certainly how my father thought. As a child he would bring the family in by train from Wiley Park to enjoy the Rocks and Millers Point and proudly say to his children that this belonged to all of us. He didn’t feel jealous and he didn’t mind contributing taxes from his meagre wages to create a better city for all.

Bill also highlighted how the Treasury approach contrasted with trends in European and American cities. New York has inclusionary zoning, for example. European countries are expanding access to affordable housing in their cities.

Bill stated that the Millers Point and Sirius policy was another brick in the wall of social divide, noting that a disparate group - President Obama, Pope Frances and the head of the IMF cautioned against such policies, that encouraged social exclusion and led to further social and economic costs.

Charles Pickett confirmed the importance of Sirius in Australian architecture history and hailed its success as a public housing building. In the early 1900s the government built model workers public housing in the area - low rise and terraces. Critics at the time said it would become slums! Charles concluded that Sirius is the last major piece of architecture built in this tradition and must be retained.

Mary Sutton gave a detailed history of the building which we hope to soon bring to you on the blog.

If like me you value our social history and want to live in a socially inclusive city let the Minister for Heritage know and ask him to save our sirius.

The Hon. Rob Stokes, MP
Minister for Heritage
52 Martin Place
SYDNEY 2000
office@stokes.minister.nsw.gov.au

To become a friend and show your support for the community of Millers Point email john@piperpress.com.au with your name and contact details with 'FRIENDS" in the subject line.

Millers Point: three new homes for every property sold?

Last night a second government owned property in Millers Point was sold. Family and Community Services Minister Gabrielle Upton reports it sold for $2.56 million. This follows the first property sale price of $1.911million.

Minister Upton says for each property sold in Millers Point, the government's public housing portfolio could be increased by three. But not so long ago the Secretary of FACS said the current State Budget would deliver a 'line-ball' increase in social housing supply this financial year.

More recently, the Minister herself told the Budget Estimates committee (see page 5 of the transcript) that for every million dollars her department spends on its housing portfolio, only $190,000 – 19 per cent – goes towards new housing. Of the rest, $340,000 is used for 'improvements' (for example, kitchen upgrades), and $470,000 goes to repairs and maintenance.

Now, we're all for spending money on overdue repairs and maintenance of the government's housing portfolio, but it's a bit rich to sell other people's homes in order to pay for it. Especially when much-needed growth of the portfolio is implied, to justify the sales.

Anyway, on the basis of Minister's Estimates statement, we thought we'd see what we could do with the $4.471 million raised so far. Within the confines of the Budget, of course...

First things first, we'll have to put about $1.52million aside for 'improvements', and a further $2.1 million aside for repairs and maintenance. This leaves us with just under $850,000 to tip into the 'new housing' bucket.

$800,000 will get you a pretty swish flat in Sydney, leaving change for stamp duties, legal costs and perhaps even some champagne to celebrate.

Cunningham St Sydney - from www.realestate.com.au

Or, if you wanted to replace the two Millers Point properties with a pair of dwellings, you can get a nice little studio in the same complex...

Cunningham St Sydney - from www.realestate.com.au

... a spacious walk up in Parramatta...

Early Street Parramatta - from www.realestate.com.au

... or a respectable family home in Campbelltown, for around $400,000.

Lindesay Street Campbelltown - from www.realestate.com.au

Of course, if you wanted to replace the two Millers Point properties with six homes in Sydney, you'd be hard pressed to do it. You'd be looking at around $140,000 per home. A quick look at the real estate pages tell us you can still find homes at such low, low prices, but nowhere near Sydney. You'd have to look in places like Deniliquin, South Grafton, Dubbo, Jindabyne, Albury and Orange.

Which leaves us with two possible conclusions to ponder: either the money will be used to buy houses in regional NSW, or more of our existing metropolitan public housing will be demolished so that we can 'replace' the Millers Point homes on land already owned by the NSW Government.

Help us keep track of what's happening with public housing sales and estate redevelopment. Check out our Clearing House blog for more information.

Millers Point and The Rocks: heritage under threat

As the NSW State Government moves to sell-off the social housing at Millers Point and The Rocks, the Tenants' Union's first concern is for the people who will lose their homes and community. But we are also concerned for the buildings and heritage significance of these places.

As Housing NSW's own Millers Point Conservation Management Guidelines put it, 'Millers Point is arguably one of Australia’s most remarkable historic urban places and, for Sydney, a unique jewel.'

And as the Guidelines also say:

There is no question that, had Millers Point’s land been in multiple private freehold ownerships, it would not look or feel as it does today.... government-ownership and a dedicated land-use (public housing) have been fundamental factors in the conservation of the heritage significance of Millers Point.

To consider the threat posed to the heritage significance of Millers Point and The Rocks, let's review what we know about the sell-off.

The Government proposes to sell 206 heritage-listed properties in Millers Point, and eight heritage-listed properties in Gloucester Street, The Rocks (we'll leave aside, for present purposes, the 79 properties in the Sirius building, which isn't heritage-listed. It should be – but that's a topic for a future post). That's 214 properties, all on the State Heritage Register.

This makes them an unusual commodity. If you own a State heritage-listed property, what you can do to it is heavily regulated under the Heritage Act 1977. Some things – for example, cleaning, repairs and maintenance – you can do provided you comply with detailed conditions stipulated by the Heritage Council, which in most cases includes notifying a heritage officer of what you propose to do. If you want to do anything else, you'll have to apply formally for Heritage Council approval. And with these properties, any new owners will have things to do. As the State Government has pointed out, these properties need some work, so the owners have to deal with this regulatory regime.

So taking on one of these properties really is a task for someone with special skills and enthusiasm for heritage conservation. It'll take a heritage buff. This limits the market for these properties.

As for what the State Government plans to get for them, we don't know, but when it started looking at Millers Point the figure of $500 million was mentioned – that works out, on average, to about $2.3 million per property.

Now, a previous program of sales in Millers Point raised $28 million from 29 properties, with an average sale price was $1.3 million (NSW State Government figures). Those 29 properties were sold over a period of six years.

The current proposal is for the sale of 214 properties, over a period of less than two years. The State Government wants them sold by March 2016.

You have to ask: is there really a market of heritage buffs to buy 214 State heritage-listed properties in Millers Points and The Rocks, at $1.3-2.3 million a pop, all in the next 19 months?

We put this question to a representative of the NSW Land and Housing Corporation, who said 'watch out for the international marketing campaign.' We wonder how many genuine aficionados of early twentieth century austere Arts and Crafts Australian working class housing there are outside Australia.

It seems like something has got to give.

We're worried that it will be heritage that gives, and these properties will go to buyers who don't know their obligations under the Heritage Act – or who might even deliberately subvert their obligations, and declare their properties are unsafe and beyond conserving, with a view to undertaking a more radical and intensive redevelopment that destroys the heritage significance of the place.

We understand that the Land and Housing Corporation is to review and 'augment' its Conservation Management Guidelines for Millers Point. We're concerned about what 'augmentation' really means. We're also concerned whether the Heritage Council will be able, as a practical matter, to keep tabs on the activities up to 214 new owners of State heritage listed properties.

On the other hand, maybe it will be the price that gives, and the people of New South Wales will lose a valuable asset in what amounts to a fire sale.

It would be better if the two-year time frame gave way. A longer time-frame would mean a better chance of getting value for the properties, from buyers able to conserve them. It would also mean that not every current social housing tenant of Millers Point and The Rocks would have to be moved out right away, and that long-term and older tenants in particular might be able to see out their days in their homes and community.

Best of all would be if the objective of selling all the properties gave way, and a commitment was made to keep social housing in Millers Point and The Rocks, to serve people in need of housing there, and to continue to protect this 'unique jewel' in the State's heritage.

Letters to the editor: Millers Point

This letter, penned by a daughter of Millers Point, was recently sent to the Sydney Morning Herald. As far as we know, it has not been published. It should be.

***

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. 

Tenants' Union condemns public housing sell-off of Millers Point and The Rocks

Text of TU media release follows:

The State’s peak organisation for tenants, the Tenants’ Union of NSW, has condemned the proposed sell-off of 293 public housing properties at Millers Point and The Rocks, announced today by the O’Farrell Government.

‘This sell-off amounts to the destruction of a community. It will cause hardship and grief to the people of Millers Point, and make all of us the poorer’, said Dr Chris Martin, Senior Policy Officer for the Tenants’ Union of NSW.

‘We are concerned for the wellbeing of Millers Point tenants, especially those who are elderly and those have lived all their lives at Millers Point’, said Dr Martin. 

‘Millers Point is irreplaceable, both as inner-city social housing and as part of our State heritage’, said Dr Martin. ‘The heritage value of Millers Point is not just in its buildings, but in its historic use as public housing, and in the long family and community ties of many of the people living there. The significance of Millers Point’s public housing and its community is recognised in its State Heritage listing.’

The Tenants’ Union criticised the lack of transparency around the sell-off. ‘The Government has not released the results of the Social Impact Assessment conducted as part of its review of housing in the area’, said Dr Martin. ‘Use of proceeds from previous sales in the area has not been accounted for transparently. On its record to date, no-one can be assured that all proceeds of a sell-off will be ‘reinvested’ in social housing.’ 

The Tenants’ Union called on the O’Farrell Government to look at alternative solutions to the question of maintenance of properties at Millers Point. ‘The tenants themselves have been putting forward innovative proposals for a sustainable program of works,’ said Dr Martin. ‘The Government should talk with tenants and the not-for-profit housing sector about these solutions.’

In the meantime the Tenants’ Union encouraged people to visit Millers Point and talk to the locals. ‘You’ll find people who have worked on the harbour, and whose families have worked on the harbour, and who can tell you about a significant part of the history of Sydney. And you’ll enjoy a wonderful part of the city, that we all own’, said Dr Martin. 

[Update: the Millers Point Social Impact Assessment, and the Government's response, are now online.] 

The case of the lost public housing heritage tenancies

NOTE: Due to a change in regulation on 30th October 2015, these exemptions no longer apply to Land and Housing Corporation and Aboriginal Housing Office properties. See here for further details.

... and they didn't even know they were missing.

Strange but true: public housing tenancies in heritage properties are, for most purposes, exempt from the Residential Tenancies Act 2010.

The TU noticed the exemption only recently, while poking around the back of the Residential Tenancies Regulation 2010 – see clause 16. The exemption applies to certain types of landlords – and the NSW Land and Housing Corporation, the public housing landlord, is one of them – where they own certain types of heritage properties: in particular, properties listed as items on the State Heritage Register or a local council's heritage register.

We've pored over the registers and have identified more than 500 affected properties. Some of these are blocks of flats, so the number of public housing tenancies affected will be higher. 

Before we go any further, we should say to affected tenants: don't panic. You're still tenants. You've still got a lawful right to occupy your premises, and legal rights and obligations under the lease you signed with Housing NSW.  We might add: you're still obliged to pay rent, and Housing NSW can still take action to terminate your tenancy and recover possession of the property.

But strictly speaking, the exemption means that neither you nor Housing NSW can resort to the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act in the event of most disputes about your rights and obligations – including the Act's provisions for dispute resolution through the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal. (This means your own applications to the Tribunal would have to go under the Consumer Claims Act. It also means, strictly speaking, that Housing NSW's proceedings for termination would have to go to the Local Court or Supreme Court under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1899!)

And to make things really strange, we say affected tenancies are exempt from the Act 'for most purposes', because it appears that Part 7 of the Act, which contains some special provisions for social housing (like the special terms about water charges and debts, and some special grounds for termination), does still apply to these tenancies, even though the rest of the Act does not. This bizarre result is an accidental effect of the wording of Part 7, rather than a deliberate reservation.

In fact, we're convinced that the whole thing is accidental: the exemption of public housing heritage tenancies is a stuff-up, not a conspiracy. It appears to us the intended targets of the exemption were the handful of tenancies for places like Bronte House, which are let to heritage buffs to restore and occasionally display – not public housing.  Housing NSW was not aware of the exemption until we alerted them to it (and when we discussed it with one of their lawyers, he groaned). Housing NSW has said it'd much prefer all its tenancies to be under the Act, and will not contemplate trying to use the exemption to avoid its obligations.
 
Clause 16 itself provides a simple way of getting exempt heritage tenancies covered by the Act: the parties just have to agree in writing not to be exempt. We continue to correspond with Housing NSW as to the best way of getting exempt tenancies covered.

So, who's affected? From the relevant heritage registers, we count:

• approximately 200 premises in Millers Point and Dawes Point (being premises listed on the State Heritage Register as items of State heritage significance under the Sydney LEP 2012);
• approximately 89 premises in Woolloomooloo (being items of local heritage significance under the Sydney LEP 2012)
• approximately 89 premises in Waterloo (being items of local heritage significance under the Sydney LEP 2012);
• approximately 39 premises in Pyrmont (being items of local heritage significance under the Sydney LEP 2012);
• approximately 36 premises in Glebe (being items of local heritage significance under the Sydney LEP 2012);
• approximately 31 premises in South Granville (being items of local heritage significance under the Parramatta LEP 2011);
• approximately 13 premises in Darlinghurst (being items of local heritage significance under the Sydney LEP 2012);
• approximately 12 premises in Surry Hills (being items of local heritage significance under the Sydney LEP 2012);
• approximately three premises in North Sydney (being items of local heritage significance under the North Sydney LEP 2001);
• premises in the Strickland Buildings, Chippendale (being an item of local heritage significance under the Sydney LEP 2012);
• premises in the Alexandra Terraces, Camperdown (being an item of local heritage significance under the Sydney LEP 2012);
• premises in the former Salvation Army College, Petersham (being an item of local heritage significance under the Marrickville LEP 2011).

Not affected are public housing tenancies in properties that are part of a heritage conservation area on a local heritage register – clause 16 says the property must be a heritage item. Also not affected are community housing tenancies (because a community housing landlord is not a public authority, as required by clause 16).

The properties in Millers Point and Dawes Point are the only public housing properties on the State Heritage Register. You can find your local heritage register up the back (usually at Schedule 5) of your council's Local Environmental Plan: browse among the 'EPIs' (environmental planning instruments) on the New South Wales legislation website by the name of your local government area.

If you have any concerns or queries about the exemption, please contact your local Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service.

For more general information on social housing and heritage, see Shelter NSW's new Shelter Brief: 'Social housing and heritage: implications for repairs, maintenance, modifications and redevelopments'.