Redfern Aboriginal Housing Company Website

This page of our website contains all the media articles about issues relevent to the Block
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Article Index - [2008] - [2007] - [2006] - [2005] - [2004]
2008/May/28 Performance Rocks The Block - Central Courier
2008/May/23 Hip To Be Square - SMH
2008/May/21 On the streets of Redfern, there's a new day rising - Time Out
2008/May/21 Walkabout #6: The Block, Redfern (2010) - Time Out Sydney
2008/May/20 Hefty fee for new Block in Redfern - LiveNews
2008/May/20 NSW urged to revive Block makeover - ABC
2008/May/20 Re: Fee too much for Block project - SMH
2008/May/20 Fee too much for Block project - SMH
2008/May/14 Community Service Crisis - Central Courier
2008/May/01 Police storm the Block, hunting its scourge - SMH
2008/Apr/30 Redfern not as violent as Gosford - Central Coast
2008/Apr/30 Police raid the Block in Redfern in heroin bust - Daily Telegraph
2008/Apr/27 Movement at the station to ease squeeze - SMH
2008/Apr/25 Bill of rights will help the hoi polloi - The Australian
2008/Apr/21 Sartor attacks the struggling Aussie home owner - AHC
2008/Apr/06 The developer donations the Greens say the minister must explain - SMH
2008/Apr/06 Pollies exit stage left for a big cash landing - SMH
2008/Mar/19 History in the Making - Indigenous Centre Proposed - Central
2008/Mar/04 Aborigines seek change - ISA Consulting
2008/Feb/18 Developers coughed up to dine with Planning Minister - SMH
2007/Oct/06 Sartor silent about his host at grand final - SMH
2007/Oct/02 Re: Critics face loss of raison d'etre - SMH
2007/Sep/13 Redfern, a map of our diminished vision - The Age
2007/Sep/07 Pemulwuy to test Government - SSH
2007/Sep/07 Square shelved after RailCorp pulls pin - SMH
2007/Sep/07 In different corners - SMH
2007/Jun/25 Meanwhile, Redfern tackles violence at grassroots - SMH
2007/May/09 Mick Mundine celebrates - more to come - SSH
2007/May/04 Block edging closer to rebirth - ABC
2007/Apr/17 Big plans for Redfern - SMH
2007/Apr/13 Improving Indegenous People's Living Conditions in Australia - HULIQ
2007/Apr/06 It's no syrah to Abbott on drop for Block rock - SMH
2007/Apr/04 Block safer than George St - The Daily Telegraph
2007/Mar/09 Policewoman named NSW Woman of the Year - SMH
2007/Mar/09 Defend the Redfern Block, abolish the RWA - Green Left
2006/Dec/13 Watkins visits the Block in Redfern - AHC
2006/Dec/10 Street drinking banned at casino and on Block - SMH
2006/Nov/25 Rebuilding the Block - SMH
2006/Nov/24 Alan Jones interviews Morris Iemma - 2GB
2006/Nov/20 List of demands sent to Morris Iemma - AHC
2006/Nov/14 Protest Rally at Parliament House - AHC
2006/Nov/09 Sex scandal 'cover-up' vow - SMH
2006/Nov/05 Truth on The Block. Beyond compliance journalism! - South Sydney Herald
2006/Oct/31 Redfern and Putney lend their support to the Leppington community - AHC
2006/Oct/27 Redfern and Leppington join forces against Sartor - AHC
2006/Oct/25 3A projects add a new dimension to rules - SMH
2006/Oct/19 Letter to the editor - SMH
2006/Oct/18 Not hungry, just Aboriginal kitsch, says former PM - SMH
2006/Sep/20 Parliament House Reconciliation Forum - Michael Mundine
2006/Sep/13 Lost: another opportunity for excitement - SMH
2006/Sep/12 UN Special Rapporteur puzzled over obstacles to Pemulwuy Project - South Sydney Herald
2006/Sep/08 FinalL RWA Built Environment Plan Released - Clover Moore's Media Release
2006/Sep/06 No favours for Aboriginal developer - SMH
2006/Sep/03 What’s the future of the Block? - Green Left Weekly
2006/Aug/31 Doing their Block: blueprint for change upsets Redfern - SMH
2006/Aug/31 Sartor outlines final Redfern plan - Australian Financial Review
2006/Aug/31 Comments to 'Locals block Redfern revamp' - The Daily Telegraph
2006/Aug/31 Locals block Redfern revamp - The Daily Telegraph
2006/Aug/28 Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Redfern - NSW Parliament Transcript
2006/Aug/27 Sartor releases final development plans for Redfern-Waterloo - South Sydney Herald
2006/Aug/18 Nothing is a surprise in the developers' state - SMH
2006/Aug/13 Pemulwuy lives, say hundreds who attend Block protest - South Sydney Herald
2006/Aug/12 Mundine considering political career - SecondsOut
2006/Aug/12 Mundine undecided - The Border Mail
2006/Aug/11 Will Mundine will stand at the next election? - The World Today
2006/Aug/11 Comments to 'Champion boxer considers politics' - The Courier Mail
2006/Aug/11 Champion boxer considers politics - The Courier Mail
2006/Aug/11 Mundine yet to declare his political intentions - Message Stick
2006/Aug/10 Boxer Mundine keen to move into politics - SMH
2006/Aug/07 Tebbitt must cover Block - Letter to the Editor
2006/Aug/06 Mundine squares up to Carmel for political knockout - SMH
2006/Jul/25 Black and White unite to keep The Block in Aboriginal hands - AHC
2006/Jul/24 Frankly, we do give a damn - Daily Telegraph
2006/Jul/21 Young ideas for a new Redfern - University of Sydney News
2006/Jul/20 Now was this really a focus on Redfem?
2006/Jun/29 Frankly, these are no Sartorial masterpieces - REDWatch
2006/Jun/17 Not in Frank's back yard - Daily Telegraph
2006/Jun/14 Once-bullied Sartor grows up and becomes a bully - SMH
2006/Jun/09 Slum city fears as Sartor grabs massive project - SMH
2006/Jun/06 Street drinking bans spark fear on Block -SMH
2006/Jun/03 Sartor slammed over CUB - The Australian
2006/May/27 Money spent on votes, not Aborigines - SMH
2006/May/05 Rock The Block - SMH
2006/May/03 Redfern Waterloo Residents Demand SEPP be Withdrawn - Message Stick
2006/Apr/15 Redfern plan threatens cultural identity, critics say - SMH
2006/Apr/12 Next stop Redfern as a tourist mecca - SMH
2006/Apr/11 Rob Welsh Speech to City of Sydney
2006/Apr/11 Historic agreement boosts reconciliation in Sydney - Message Stick
2006/Mar/31 Love song to the gritty city - SMH
2006/Mar/29 NSW State Government grabs planning control - The World Today
2006/Mar/29 Sartor seizes council powers - SMH
2006/Mar/27 Open Letter to the NSW Parliament - AHC
2006/Mar/26 Labor councils turn on Sartor as ugly fight develops over local planning - SMH
2006/Mar/22 No miracle on this agenda - SMH
2006/Mar/20 Two tiers go to war over planning control - SMH
2006/Mar/17 How the planning system stifles debate - SMH
2006/Mar/13 Letters Sent To The Editor - The Australian
2006/Mar/13 Battle for the streets - The Australian
2006/Mar/08 Redfern/Waterloo:Land grab plan announced - The Guardian
2006/Mar/02 Once again, Frank gets it wrong on The Block - ALP Branch Media Release
2006/Mar/01 Letter Sent To The Editor of SMH
2006/Mar/01 The reality behind the Redfern plan: a boon for the big end of town - SMH
2006/Feb/24 Letters Sent To The Editors of SMH & The Australian
2006/Feb/22 Symbolism cannot solve unemployment and social misery - SMH
2006/Feb/20 Another time around the Block for urban revival - The Australian
2006/Feb/15 Indigenous heartland under threat - SMH
2006/Feb/13 Revamp for Redfern ignores railway heritage - SMH
2006/Feb/10 The Block's revival in rezoning renovation - Daily Telegraph
2006/Feb/10 Firth Calls on Sartor to Rethink Pemulwuy Decision - City of Sydney
2006/Feb/10 Aboriginal anger as Block rezoned - The Australian
2006/Feb/10 New plan on the Block unwelcome to owners - SMH
2006/Feb/09 Sartor changes zoning of the Block to commercial - AHC
2006/Feb/09 Redfern redevelopment plan not about moving Aborigines: Minister - ABC
2006/Feb/07 Welcome to the Movement Economy - Property Australia
2006/Feb/02 No Progress from Labor in Redfern - Peter Debnam Media Release
2005/Nov/27 Aboriginal boss says needle bus must go - The Sun Herald
2005/Nov/24 Faulty thinking clouds the drugs debate - SMH
2005/Nov/20 We bought lethal heroin with help of drug worker - The Sun Herald
2005/Nov/12 Architecture: The barefoot brainstormers - SMH
2005/Oct/27 Climbing the stairway to basic social norms - SMH
2005/Oct/21 Local Liberals call for Aboriginal future in the Block - Liberals Media Release
2005/Oct/09 Claims of plot to 'crucify' Mundine - The Sun Herald
2005/Oct/06 Redfern tour - Daily Telegraph
2005/Oct/06 We'll allow more Block houses: Debnam - SMH
2005/Oct/05 Redfern rallies - Koori Mail
2005/Oct/05 New body to lead fight for Redfern - Koori Mail
2005/Oct/05 Minister snubbed - Koori Mail
2005/Oct/05 Opposition plans to support Block redevelopment - Daily Telegraph
2005/Oct/04 Sartor's hurtful comments - NIT
2005/Oct/04 A minister of the crown? - NIT
2005/Oct/04 Michael Mundine's open letter to boycott Frank Sartor and RWA - South Sydney Herald
2005/Oct/03 Redfern organisations unite under Sol Bellear - NIT
2005/Oct/03 Sartor boycott bid - Daily Telegraph
2005/Oct/01 The contempt for disrespect - Daily Telegraph
2005/Oct/01 Plans drawn in black and white - SMH
2005/Sep/30 Labor are the real hypocrites in Brogden's fall - SMH
2005/Sep/29 Mundine snubs Sartor - SMH
2005/Sep/19-23 Timetable of Events in relation to the Frank Sartor Racial Slur
2005/Sep/08 Is Sartor taking the Micky? - Central Courier
2005/Sep/07 Open letter from Michael Mundine to Frank Sartor - Central Courier
2005/Sep/05 RIP Aboriginal protest? - NIT
2005/Sep/02 An open letter from Frank Sartor to Mick Mundine
2005/Aug/29 Sartor refuses to budge on the Block - SMH
2005/Aug/03 Loyal and likeable but largely ineffectual - Daily Telegraph
2005/Jul/15 Sacred land and official secrets - Southside News
2005/Jul/15 Land and secrets on The Block - Southside News
2005/Jul/15 Pemulwuy inspires battle for The Block - Southside News
2005/Jul/15 Friend or foe Sartor has final say - Southside News
2005/Jul/15 How Moore's 'kinda'onside with RWA - Southside News
2005/Jul/06 Fighting to save The Block - The Guardian
2005/Jul/02 Black and Blue - SMH
2005/Jun/29 Power of one best for city planning: adviser - SMH
2005/Jun/27 NSW: The future of Redfern should be based on need not greed: says Welsh - ABC
2005/Jun/21 New planning code: trust us, we're the experts - SMH
2005/Jun/20 Redfern Redevelopment - Living Black - SBS
2005/Jun/16 Aboriginal Community Kicked In the Guts - Christian Democratic Party
2005/Jun/16 It's not Mr Whippy, it's the needle van - Daily Telegraph
2005/Jun/15 Minister Frank Sartor on SBS Aboriginal Radio program
2005/Jun/15 Residents step up needle fight - Daily Telegraph
2005/Jun/08 Religious leaders claim Block policy 'racist' - ABC Sydney
005/Jun/06 Labor `shame' at Block plans - The Australian
2005/May/31 The Block under threat, says AHC - The Courier Mail
2005/May/26 The last thing Redfern needs [needle exchange] - SMH
2005/May/25 No Black Faces on the Block? - Signature, UK
2005/May/20 Redfern residents strongly opposed to needle exchange - ABC
2005/May/18 Redfern - Alan Jones Editorial - 2GB
2005/May/17 Aborigines' ochre vision for Redfern - SMH
2005/May/16 Redfern Needle Exchange - Alan Jones Editorial - 2GB
2005/May/15 Sydney South West Area Health Service letter and AHC's response - The Australian
2005/May/14 Protest against needle exchange - Herald Sun
2005/May/12 Selling out the people of Redfern - The Australian
2005/May/11 Needle exchange a bad fit for cleaned-up community - The Australian
2005/May/10 Madness rules the metropolis - SMH
2005/Apr/15 Redfern community centre on chopping block - SMH
2005/Apr/15 Radio Interview - 2SER
2005/Apr/11 Redfern revamp: Sartor seeks $36m - SMH
2005/Apr/11 NSW misled over Redfern redevelopment costs: Opposition - ABC
2005/Apr/08 Redeveloping The Block: the battle drags on - South Sydney Herald
2005/Apr/06 Joining Forces For Redfern - Sydney Central
2005/Mar/23 Sartor out to remove Aboriginal housing - Green Left Weekly
2005/Mar/15 Psst: Sydney's future is on the line - SMH
2005/Mar/11 Tough-talking Sartor targets the Block - Australian Financial Review
2005/Mar/11 Sartor is undoing years of work on the Block - SMH
2005/Mar/08 No point arguing around the Block all over again - SMH
2005/Mar/08 Hardly a Black face on the Block in Redfern - Canberra
2005/Mar/07 It's time for a Frank explanation of Redfern plan
2005/Mar/05 Hardly a black face on the Block - Sartor's vision for Redfern - SMH
2005/Feb/22 Council wary of Redfern revamp - SMH
2005/Feb/19 Moore rethinks her Redfern job - SMH
2005/Jan/15 Redfern team set for long haul - SMH
2004/Dec/17 Redeveloping The Block - ABC TV
2004/Dec/15 Residents protest Carr's Redfern-Waterloo plan - Green Left Weekly
2004/Dec/09 Sartor keeps right to annex land around Redfern - SMH
2004/Dec/08 Carr's land grab - The Guardian
2004/Dec/08 Government, developers threaten Redfern Block - Green Left Weekly
2004/Dec/07 Zen and the art of gloss maintenance - SMH
2004/Dec/07 Labor councillors want to limit Sartor power - SMH
2004/Dec/02 Aborigines plan protest over Redfern 'land grab' - SMH
2004/Dec/02 Aborigines to resist forcible acquisition of Redfern’s Block
2004/Dec/02 Proposed Redfern Waterloo Redevelopment
2004/Dec/01 Redfern changes the first of many under growth plan - SMH
2004/Dec/01 Better urban design can bring community together - SMH
2004/Dec/01 Action group wants law to ensure rights for Redfern residents - SMH
2004/Nov/30 Redfern and social engineering - SMH
2004/Nov/30 Mistrust and hope struggle for a hearing - SMH
2004/Nov/30 How they will breathe life into Redfern - SMH
2004/Nov/29 Revealed: how Redfern will be reborn - SMH
2004/Nov/29 Goodbye to history - heritage laws won't apply here - SMH
2004/Nov/29 State significant: another step in redistribution of powers - SMH
2004/Nov/29 NSW Govt plans to rejuvenate Redfern's 'Block' - ABC
2004/Nov/29 Fixing the Block: $27m development planned - SMH
2004/Nov/29 Grand plan to transform suburbs into a new North Sydney - SMH
2004/Nov/29 Maximising market value the main game - SMH
2004/Nov/29 Secret business puts a community at risk - SMH
2004/Nov/11 Fred Nile supports Redfern Pemulwuy Redevelopment Project for ‘the Block’
2004/Nov/04 Block talks under way - Central Courier
2004/May/20 The problems with Redfern - SMH
2004/Mar/03 The Redfern Block vs developer greed - Green Left Weekly
2004/Mar/03 Racism kills: Struggling to survive in the lucky country - Green Left Weekly
2004/Feb/20 Indigenous life is improving, Redfern just reminds us solutions take time - The Age
2004/Feb 20 RED alert for Redfern - SMH
2004/Feb/18 Will bulldozers make it better? - SMH
2004/Feb/17 Cash for the Block held up: owners - SMH
2004/Feb/16 The politics of Redfern's Block - ENIAR

Performance Rocks The Block
May 28, 2008 - Courier Central
MORE than 1000 people are expected to visit the Block, Redfern, to experience multi-art, site specific performance work over the next three nights writes Robert Burton-Bradley in Central of 28th May 2008.
Called Gathering Ground 2: History, Ceremony, Protest, the event is a collaboration between PACT Theatre and the Redfern Community Centre that encourages focal youth to participate in performance and installation art.
PACT Theatre co-director Kate Therese said she struck on the idea for Gathering Ground after she first visited the block a few years ago and saw its potential for use as a significant site.
"When I went to the Block I was quite scared and that made me question why I have these thoughts and feelings, particularly because I grew up in a stigmatised area myself, Mt Druitt," Ms Therese said.
"I really questioned what the media said about the Block.
"There was also this great space with so much history and significance and an amazing community centre."
In the five weeks leading up to the event, 50 young people participated in workshops run by Legs on the Wall, Erth and other established and emerging artists in hip hop, aerial work, stilt walking, puppetry and film.
The project had success in its first run in 2006 but Ms Therese said this year's involvement from local youth had tripled.
"We wanted to empower the kids with the history of the area and their past - I noticed that a lot of the kids said they did not actually know that much," she said.
"I also wanted to bring people from non-indigenous backgrounds and expose them and the locals to each other."
Gathering Ground starts on Thursday night and runs until Saturday. As the sun sets, groups will be guided through the Block and taken. on a journey designed to inspire and give hope.
Broken wails, empty buildings and spaces will become sites of ritual, spectacle, action, video, music, sound and story.
They will work collaboratively with the artists using their new skills and ideas to bring stories of the Block to life.
The stories will be drawn from aboriginal elders and members of the local community.
To experience Gathering Ground contact PACT Theatre at associate@pact.net.au .
Organisers have asked people meet at the entrance to Lawson Street, opposite Redfern Station.
Photo Phil Rogers: Local children rehearse for Gathering Ground at the Block, Redfern.
Source: Courier Central 28th May 2008
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Hip to be square
May 23, 2008 - SMH
By Stephen Dunne
Gathering Ground celebrates the children and community of the Block. Stephen Dunne reports.
It's the Block in Redfern and outside the Community Centre about 12 kids aged eight to 15 are going aerial with harnesses, ropes and silk loops, swinging and swaying and climbing high.
Upstairs, inside the centre, more young people practise modelling, walking to the beat, and posing. The girls tend towards hip thrusts and flicks, while the boys lean back with arms folded, hip-hop style. Next door, a 15-strong choir rehearses Christine Anu's My Island Home, slow and plaintive, with massed voices and an acoustic guitar.
These are some of the preparations for Gathering Ground, a site-specific collaboration between PACT and the Redfern Community Centre, where about 40 young Aboriginal people from the Block and its environs work with established artists and physical theatre companies such as ERTH and Legs On The Wall.
Gathering Ground is a performance event exploring the power of community, friendship and love. Developed and performed by young people living in and around the Block, it continues on from the successful 2006 event, which was focused on history, ceremony and protest. Audiences are led through various specific sites, before gathering for the finale in the park outside the Community Centre.
When asked why she's doing it, Louise Winters, 13, says it's fun.
"It's freaky at the start because everyone knows you and stuff, because it's just like your family and friends give you confidence for doing stuff that you want to do," she says. "It makes you feel a lot better."
Willurei Kirkbright is a young artist who participated in the first Gathering Ground in 2006. She is back for this event, making two installations - one on the wall of an abandoned terrace, the other in the soon-to-re-open Murraweena preschool.
"I'm basically doing it for the kids, giving them and this community a voice," Kirkbright says. "We have some really creative and really talented kids. We want to show all the positive things about Redfern - we have a really strong sense of family here; we have a strong sense of community - and to show that this isn't all a negative place and it's a real important part of our society and our culture."
For co-directors Karen Therese and Frederick Copperwaite and the producer and the centre's cultural development officer Lily Shearer, the process of Gathering Ground is much more important than the result.
"It's to develop not only theatre skills and physical skills for these kids but it's about giving them skills of commitment, seeing things through, starting things and finishing them," Shearer says. "If they find a little niche there, that's a bonus, and if they can develop that outside, that's an extra bonus."
Several participants from the previous Gathering Ground have gone on to get scholarships or TV work.
"Young people don't have much of a voice in our society in general, let alone in the Aboriginal community," Shearer says. "Gathering Ground is about them being proud of who they are and where they come from and it's about them saying, and they'll tell you straight out, they don't want the junkies on the Block. They don't want the alcoholics on the Block. It's about changing lifestyle."
It's also about changing perceptions of one of Sydney's most derided and stereotyped communities. Copperwaite says the Block will be adorned with theatrical lighting and signs for Gathering Ground but the area won't be dressed up or "disguised".
"It's really important that [people] see the state of the buildings and, when they walk around the streets, that they see the environment as it is."
Therese says everyone is welcome at the event's three free showings and the public will be led through the event by tour guides.
"Last time it clearly said on the poster that you had to meet opposite Redfern train station," Therese says. "And I walked up and it was 7.30pm and I thought, 'Oh, there's no one here.' Then I looked across the road and there's all these white people looking scared on the other side, crowding Redfern Station and looking at me. And I'm like, 'Over here guys! It's OK!'"
Shearer says: "You have to come and see the show to get the messages because you'll hear it in the lyrics that the kids have written for the songs. You'll see it in their bodies, the way they perform, the proudness. You'll see it in the parents and the grandparents. Don't believe in stereotypes in the media. Come down and see it for yourselves!"
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Mick Mundine - On the streets of Redfern, there's a new day rising
May 21, 2008 - Time Out Sydney
Years ago the Gadigal - Sydney's Aboriginal people - travelled in a circle. They'd spend six months at a waterhole, eat, drink, fish, hunt and dance. When water got low or food got scarce, they'd move onto the next waterhole. A few seasons later they'd come back to find the waterhole was full and all the animals had returned. The cycle began again.
Ever since the railway circle went in, Redfern has been our people's main watering hole. That's why, when Sydney builds its indigenous cultural centre, it should be in Redfern. Not The Rocks. Not Darling Harbour. No blackfellas down there! Redfern is Blackfella Gathering Ground Number One. It's where Sydney's past and future connects.
The way I see it the cultural centre should be a living, breathing symbol of reconciliation. Yes, it should be a museum and school and art gallery and research centre and library and performance space too, but most of all, it's got to tell the stories of Sydney's people - from the very beginning right up to now.
Thing is, how can they expect Aboriginals to recognise anybody else in Australia when Australia itself doesn't recognise that we're the first indigenous people of this land? That was a breakdown in Rudd's apology. We need that recognition for reconciliation to come to reality.
This centre has got to help people from Australia and overseas understand who the Aboriginal people of Sydney are. It's got to look history in the eye - the invasion of our country, the slaughtering of our people, the stealing of our children - but then it's got to move people along. What's past is past. Let's not dwell on it. Reconciliation is the future.
It's about people more than politics. Paul Keating made a great speech at Redfern Park in 1992 but he didn't carry it on. Now Kevin Rudd has taken the first step and apologised to the nation in a really passionate way, the Aboriginal people got to accept that apology, face reality and move on.
And that's the most important thing about the apology, I reckon. It's a time for us to come together. Blackfellas. Whitefellas. We've both got to learn from mistakes and start fresh. Whitefellas got to wash the blood off their hands. Blackfellas got to forgive, stand up for themselves and say enough is enough.
What all of us gotta ask ourselves now is: how we gonna walk on together, hand in hand?
The way I see it, it starts here in Redfern. For too long our community has been a no-go, our streets just a fast track to the airport rather than somewhere to stop and learn. For too long our residents have been stuck in a vicious cycle of drugs, alcohol, violence. Mate, I'm sick of The Block being called The Blockage.
Now we got new hope. I was at a Chamber of Commerce meeting last night and we had residents, politicians, councillors, architects business people excited about Redfern. We've got the Pemulwuy Project [named after the first Aboriginal freedom fighter], and we've got big plans for this area. It's up to us elders to pave the way.
We're gonna fix Aboriginal housing, open up Gadigal Apartments as a residential area, make a Red Square to go with Green Square down the road - Rabbitoh tribal colours! We want to demolish The Block and put in 62 houses - same number of Aboriginal families as were in the Gadigal clan on this land when the First Fleet arrived.
One thing I'll be cranky about is if the rainbow serpent marks the path of this indigenous culture trail - it's a desert totem and got no place in Sydney. Snakes represent evil and the negative side of our culture - even Adam and Eve knew that!
At Redfern station there used to be a rainbow serpent painted on the wall, fangs bared, bringing bad karma on us for 45 years. It took me years but I cut his head off eventually, painted that bad karma away.
See, the truth is, the Gadigal and us are water people. Our totems are whales and dolphins - they're warmer, more human creatures, better for kids and more connected with home. These are animals that represent flowing water and cleansing properties. Why aren't they painted on the ground of children's playgrounds instead of that bloody rainbow serpent?
Mick Mundine is the CEO of the Aboriginal Housing Company
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Walkabout #6: The Block, Redfern (2010)
May 21, 2008 - Time Out Sydney
Sydney's toughest stretch of street sits right on the doorstep of the CBD
Urban slum, Aboriginal icon or real-estate goldmine? Depending on the beholder, The Block signifies many different things and inspires both fear and affection in Sydneysiders. Barely 8,000 square metres in size, it's cordoned off from the rest of Redfern by four streets - Eveleigh, Caroline, Hugo and Hudson. Within that perimeter stands a patch of land that smoulders with relentless controversy and spirit.
Back in the 1790s, members of the Gadigal tribe occupied the land on which The Block now stands. Aboriginal people from rural areas migrated to Redfern in greater numbers during the 1920s, lured by work opportunities at the Eveleigh railyards. As the community grew, activists lobbied the Whitlam government to transfer ownership of The Block to the Aboriginal Housing Company. In 1972, The Block became a unique project in Aboriginal-run housing and the focal point for the reconciliation movement.
Ravaged by heroin in the 90s, recent history hasn't exactly smiled on The Block. Four years ago, a teenager was killed after a bicycle accident left him impaled on a metal fence. Claims the death was caused by a police pursuit sparked a nine-hour riot in which cars were set alight and police pelted with bricks and petrol bombs. Only last month, 100 police clad in bulletproof vests raided homes in The Block, arresting more than 10 people as part of a crackdown on local drug dealers.
The raid took place on Eveleigh Street just across the road from Redfern Station. Turning into it, the first thing you see is a vast Aboriginal flag painted on the side of Elouera ‘Tony Mundine' gym. It's a weekday morning but there are plenty of locals hanging around the streets. In the shell of an abandoned house several people are crashed out on a ragged old sofa. Broken glass crunches underfoot as you pass terrace houses in various stages of dilapidation. Some are completely derelict, their windows and doors bricked up to stop them becoming drug dens - the reason most of the houses on Eveleigh have already been bulldozed. Up Holden Street to the right, a sign bears a message of wistful hope: JESUS LOVES YOU.
On the corner of Vine Street stands Mundine's gym, the great former champ over weight four divisions. Battered posters of boxing legends cover the walls including plenty of Anthony Mundine, the current WBA super middleweight titleholder, who still regularly trains at his father's gym. The space is buzzing with people both black and white. A stocky youth pounds the heavy bag with sullen intensity while in the ring a woman throws a flurry of precise jabs at her trainers' hands.
"Look good, feel good" urges the writing on the stairwell.
The Mundines' contribution to the local community isn't limited to the sporting arena. Mick Mundine, Anthony's uncle, is chief executive of the Aboriginal Housing Company. He's determined to revitalise the Block with a bold redevelopment initiative that would construct 62 much-needed houses. But Frank Sartor, the Minister for Planning, is reluctant to sanction further Aboriginal housing. These reservations stem from Redfern being earmarked as Sydney's next site for regeneration thanks to its central location and transport links. Developers are salivating at the prospect. Only they're not keen on sharing the area with The Block's residents. "There is no way that Redfern is going to be that commercial mini-centre with Aboriginal housing and The Block still in place," Ken Morrison, executive director of the NSW Property Council told the Australian Financial Review: "We need to sort that out."
The repercussions of such opposition are ominous for the symbolic home of Sydney's Aboriginal community. Turning onto Louis Street, it's possible to leave the urban squalor behind as the shiny Community Centre - a vibrant cultural hub of recording studio, dancefloor, exhibition spaces and outdoor ampitheatre - while Caroline Street offers a neat stretch of well-maintained terraces. Wherever you look, you're constantly reminded of The Block's heritage, with endless murals and depictions of the Aboriginal flag. It may be disadvantaged, but a defiant pride remains.
Nevertheless the demographic is starting to change. Down Vine Street is Re-Creations, a unique shop that transforms salvaged pieces of timber into sculptures and elegantly customised furniture. Owner James Nixon admits he rarely locks the shopfront when he's busy in the workshop out the back. "I've never had any dramas," he insists. "All the local kids are always coming down here and everyone knows the dog."
The area's pulling power is also increasing. Up the road on Wilson Street is Carriageworks, the former railway workshops that have evolved into a contemporary arts mecca with two theatre spaces and a gallery. At the nearby Australian Technology Park a purpose-built media complex will soon house the Seven Network and Pacific Magazines. And that's just the start. The Eveleigh railyards are undergoing a $550 million makeover that will include 1260 new flats, cafes, shops and an undercover food and craft market.
The future for Redfern is glaringly bright. But does The Block figure in the area's renaissance? Local development plans clearly focus on the next generation of tenants not the residents of one of Sydney's most vulnerable communities. As new apartments are assembled down the road, the houses on Eveleigh Street continue to crumble.
In the 'hood
Elouera Tony Mundine Gym
For a $5 entry fee you can workout in the same gym as Anthony "The Man" Mundine. Cnr Vine and Eveleigh Sts, Redfern 2016. (02 9319 0316).
Redfern Community Centre
Facilities includes a sound recording studio, amphitheatre for open-air concerts, plus arts, exercise and entertainment programs. 29-53 Hugo St, Redfern 2016. (02 9288 5714).
Re-creations
Recycled timber is fashioned into unique furniture, mirrors and art. Pieces also available at Bondi and Balmain markets. 2b Edward St, Darlington 2008, (0405 072 477)
Carriageworks
This mecca for contemporary arts contains two theatre spaces, a gallery, exhibition spaces, a bar and café. 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh 2015. (02 8571 9099).
Getting there from Central
* Bus Take the 309, 378, 413 or 423 to Redfern. Bus fare: $1.80
* Train Take the Bankstown, Western, South or Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra Line to Redfern. Fare: $2.60
* Parking Redfern Car Park, corner Gibbons Street and Marian Street
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Hefty fee for new Block in Redfern
May 20, 2008 - LiveNews
The NSW government is under fire over its refusal to waive a 60-thousand dollar fee for a new Aboriginal housing project for the Block in Redfern.
The proposal, put forward by the Aboriginal Housing Company, includes plans for 62 houses, a gym and elders centre.
Shadow Planning Minister Brad Hazzard says the state government is using flimsy excuses to prevent the plan being considered on its merits.
“Frank Sartor shouldn’t actually be arguing anything until the project is in the Department of Planning and is properly being considered, but there’s a 60 thousand dollar hurdle in the way.”
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NSW urged to revive Block makeover
May 20, 2008 - ABC
The New South Wales Government is being pushed to waive a $60,000 fee to revive the Aboriginal Housing Company's stalled plan to rebuild The Block in inner Sydney.
The company says the Pemulwuy Project is on hold because it will not be able to raise the development application fee until the application is passed.
Opposition planning spokesman Brad Hazzard says the Government strikes deals with big developers and it should do the same with the not-for-profit Aboriginal Housing Company.
"The Department of Planning is really just doing [Planning Minister] Frank Sartor's bidding because he doesn't like this project," he said.
"The reality is in determining what the fee is for each development, there is a lot of discretion to be applied.
"What the state Liberals and Nationals are saying to Frank Sartor is, 'Show some discretion, just show us what you can do when you are doing a deal with a major developer.'"
The Aboriginal Housing Company wants to rebuild most of the houses on Redfern's The Block because it says they are infected with mildew and infested with vermin.
The Pemulwuy Project would also include a business college, spiritual centre, art gallery and gymnasium.
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Re: Fee too much for Block project
May 20, 2008 - SMH
Letter To The Editor
Dear Editor

The Pemulwuy Project has been in process for many years with many redrawn plans in reply to the obfuscation and opposition of Mr Sator and his planning team (Fee too much for Block project). We now know that Mr Sator's plans are driven by political donations from the big end of town. It is no problem for them to build hundreds of dwellings or businesses on small parcels of land wherever they like with Mr Sator's blessing.
The Aboriginal Housing Company, already the private owners of their land, not only can't build housing for Aborigines anywhere near the previous occupation numbers but have had their very reasonable applications for 62 dwellings and community spaces consistently opposed and rejected. Anyone would think Mr Sator's developer mates want the Aborigines out of Redfern altogether.
It is a disgrace that Aborigines "care being treated like any other applicant". This bureaucratic attitude is precisely what keeps them where they are - at the bottom of every social, health and economic indicator there is. It's about time we assisted self-starting Aborigines, and organisations run by Aborigines like the Housing Company, to do better than in the past by assisting them and not putting every possible obstacle in their way. This approach invites the self-fulfilling prophecy of failure yet again.
The Pemulwuy Project has won a design and architectural award. Governments must ensure success for Indigenous ingenuity and creativity, not crush it on the grounds of a false and cruel sense of "equality".
Rev Peter Maher
Newtown Catholic Church
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Fee too much for Block project
May 20, 2008 - SMH
By Sunanda Creagh Urban Affairs Reporter
THE Aboriginal Housing Company has accused the Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor, of "trying to crucify" an ambitious housing plan for the Block in Redfern after his department refused to waive a $60,000 development application processing fee for the project.
The Pemulwuy Project, a $50 million plan for 62 houses, a gym and an elders' centre, is on hold because the not-for-profit housing company says it cannot afford the processing fee.
"We are a charitable organisation and we don't receive any money from the Government," said the head of the Aboriginal Housing Company, Mick Mundine. "We don't understand why they need $60,000 just to look at our DA, but they wrote back saying they won't let us off the fee."
The company's project manager, Peter Valilis, said money could not be raised from investors until the the development application was passed.
"Frank Sartor is a guy who just does not want this new complex to go ahead," said Mr Valilis, who added that the company would refuse to pay the fee.
"It is really just a stand-off. They have said they will not do an assessment on the project until they get their money, so it could sit there indefinitely."
Mr Sartor has argued that the Pemulwuy Project is too big and that 62 houses is too many for the Block, which is private land owned by the Aboriginal Housing Company.
He attracted controversy in 2005 when he said Mr Mundine should "bring your black arse" down to his office to discuss plans for the Block. Mr Sartor apologised.
A spokesman for the Planning Department said the Aboriginal Housing Company was being treated like any other applicant.
"The fees to be charged by the Department of Planning for the assessment of development proposals are prescribed by the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation. As such, the department charges proponents these fees, including other state agencies such as the Department of Housing and the Department of Health."
Processing fees cover the department's work assessing proposals, public exhibition and notification, consulting other agencies and presenting an assessment report for the minister.
The spokesman said the Planning Department was awaiting more information from the Aboriginal Housing Company, such as the final investment value of the project.
"While the Aboriginal Housing Company has now provided the Department with most of the information requested, the proposal is not able to proceed to public exhibition until these last remaining critical pieces of information are provided."
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Community Service Crisis
May 14, 2008 - Central Courier
SERIOUS concerns have been raised about the future of community services provided by the Redfern-Waterloo Authority when its funding runs out in less than two months.
In the past financial year the RWA provided more than $827,000 in grants to community organisations reports Robert Burton-Bradley in the Central of 14th May 2008.
At least six local community service providers said they believed that when the funding commitment expired at the end of this financial year in June, it would not be renewed.
This leaves an uncertain future for a number of employees of RWA and local groups and programs which receive funding from the Human Services budget.
"So far we have no idea if there will be a human services program next year, there is no allocation beyond the middle of this year," community group REDWatch representative Geoff Turnbull said.
"There is concern that it will end as nothing is being said by RWA."
The South Sydney Community Aid and Multicultural Neighbourhood Centre's Jhan Leach said the authority's funding, which came through the Premier's Department, had provided funds for a Centacare Transcultural Family Support Service in Redfern, but a worker she employed would provide this service when the funding ran out.
"It's a perfect example where they have left this community high and dry," Ms Leach said. "We have had to pick it up because there is no where else who can do it."
NSW Council of Social Services director Alison Peters said the RWA had attempted to get a quick fix by smothering the area in a "truckload of money over a very short period."
"It was always going to take more than three years, there's some things you can do quickly, significant change takes longer," Ms Peters said.
A spokesperson for Redfern-Waterloo Minister Frank Sartor said that no comment could be made before the budget.
Faye Williams from the Inner Sydney Council for Regional Development said overall the human services program had been a "failure". "It's all been such a waste of time energy and money and made everyone in the area feel bad," Ms Williams said.
"They were not doing much, it was minimal, it will do absolutely nothing having that budget cease."

Source: Courier 14 May 2008
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Police storm the Block, hunting its scourge
May 1, 2008 - SMH
By Jordan Baker Chief Police Reporter
EVEN for residents of the Block it was dramatic. More than 100 police, some in bulletproof vests, descended on the Redfern streets and stormed the crumbling houses with guns drawn as they hunted 30 heroin dealers.
Redfern police collected names and photographs during a six-week undercover operation, in which they did 59 drug deals. Yesterday 17 people - not all of whom were on the police list - were arrested, including 11 women and teenage boys.
"It was scary," said one woman, who has lived in Eveleigh Street for 20 years. "We were worried about the kids in those houses. There were that many police. They surrounded the whole block. They came from everywhere. I haven't seen anything like it."
Some doors were kicked down, although many were already open. One woman said she was arrested when eight police ran into her house. "They came in with their guns drawn," said the woman, who did not want to be named. "They started going for the boys and getting them on the ground."
Police arrested one teenage boy for breaching his bail conditions, as he had failed to go to school as required. Officers said he was 16, his angry mother said he was 15. Police said they also seized heroin and cannabis from several houses.
The commander of Redfern Police, Superintendent Mark Walton, said the operation was aimed at addressing drug-related crime. The 30 people on the hit list were members of the community, but their customers were outsiders.
Despite speculation heroin use in Sydney was increasing, Superintendent Walton said the level of activity in Redfern had been consistent in recent years. However, it had moved from fortified houses to open spaces, such as parks.
A park near the station was littered with needles.
He said police would use tactics such as high visibility policing and working with the community to keep down crime in Redfern.
The community was supportive of police attempts to control the drug trade, he said.
The Aboriginal Housing Company chief, Mick Mundine, backed the operation. "I really feel it's a blessing that police are doing their job around here," he told the ABC. "A lot of people come here every day 24-7, they come in and use and abuse the community, they sit and drink all day, and they sell drugs.
"There were a few tenants raided today. They've got to stop selling drugs in their home."
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Redfern not as violent as Gosford
April 30, 2008 - Central Coast
THE Central Coast outnumbers notorious areas like Redfern, Macquarie Fields and Mount Druitt when it comes to alcohol-related assaults.
Statistics in a report released by the NSW Auditor-General last week ranked the Brisbane Water police command area fifth in the state when it came to drunken violence.
It came in behind Sydney City, Newcastle, Richmond and Kings Cross for incident rates.
Brisbane Water area command had 554 incidents in 2006-07 compared with Sydney City which had the most incidents, 774 and Botany Bay the least, with 52.
The statistics excluded domestic violence alcohol-related assaults.
Tuggerah Lakes area command was close behind Brisbane Water with 493 incidents.
Auditor-General Peter Achterstraat's report into working with hotels and clubs to reduce alcohol-related crime found incidents had doubled in the past 10 years.
Malicious damage and offensive conduct also increased in the past 10 years, rising by 87 per cent and 70 per cent, respectively.
The report found inconsistencies in policing of licensed premises was part of the problem.
Mr Achterstraat said premises needed to ensure fewer people got drunk in the first place.
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Police raid the Block in Redfern in heroin bust
April 30, 2008 - Daily Telegraph
By Saffron Howden
MORE than 110 police swooped on Redfern in Sydney arresting 17 people on drug charges today.
The cops searched at least seven homes and arrested 17 people they will allege are involved in supplying the drug around the notorious Block area.
Redfern Local Area Commander Mark Walton said undercover police had made 59 separate purchases of illegal drugs over six weeks in preparation for today's bust, dubbed Operation Kildea.
Superintendent Walton said local people were sick and tired of blatant drug-dealing in the neighbourhood.
"They do not want to tolerate this on their streets," he said.
“Information from the community has been highly effective in assisting us to address the problems arising from drug activity in the area,” Supt Walton said.
Those arrested included 11 women aged 20 to 51 and six males aged 16 to 45. They were taken to Redfern and Surry Hills Police Stations for further questioning.
More arrests are expected in relation to the bust.
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Movement at the station to ease squeeze
April 27, 2008 - SMH
A $550 MILLION redevelopment of the old Redfern railway workshops will include a 16-storey block of flats just 100 metres from the troubled area of The Block.
The historic North Eveleigh workshops will be turned into 1260 new flats, including up to 200 flats reserved for affordable rental housing, Planning Minister Frank Sartor announced yesterday.
More than $100 million is expected to be raised from selling the public land. It will be funnelled into upgrading Redfern railway station with a pedestrian bridge among other amenities.
Mr Sartor said the now derelict railyards would become a new, vibrant, living community.
"It is a fantastic urban renewal project which will keep the old heritage buildings and juxtapose it with the new," he said.
The yards would become home for more than 2500 people, provide 3000 jobs during construction and breathe new life into Redfern, he said.
Mr Sartor acknowledged problems of the area as the noise of passing trains and planes flying overhead drowned him out several times during the announcement.
"This not about the hot end of town," he said. "This is about providing an important new living community within the inner city."
The development is only a short walk from Sydney University, the new media hub being built for Channel 7 and the growing Technology Park.

Source: The Sun-Herald
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Bill of rights will help the hoi polloi
April 25, 2008 - The Australian
By Andrew Lynch
HE support of many delegates at the 2020 summit for a bill or charter of rights will undoubtedly be seen by John Hatzistergos as confirmation of his view that only "professional lobbyists and law school elites" are interested in such reforms and not "ordinary citizens".
Hatzistergos, the NSW Attorney-General, sounded eerily like his former federal counterpart Philip Ruddock recently when he rejected calls for a national charter, or even a state-based version like those in Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. He insisted the best protection of rights was our system of parliamentary responsible government.
He did not misrepresent history when he stated that this was also the view of the framers of the Commonwealth Constitution when they chose not to emulate the US Bill of Rights. But the attorney did not acknowledge that parliamentary accountability is not what it was in the 19th century.
Its limited capacity to check the power of modern government has become all too plain - with NSW no exception.
If dramatic proof was needed that "ordinary citizens" might actually have something to gain from a charter protecting their rights from an over-mighty government, then the attorney-general's own Labor colleague, Frank Sartor, the NSW Minister for Planning, provided it not long after Hatzistergos made his remarks.
Under Sartor's proposed new laws, which came to light last week, the right of property ownership may soon be significantly curtailed in NSW.
Governments have long possessed the power to compulsorily acquire land for public purposes - the construction of new roads, airstrips or defence bases being good examples. Those whose property is taken are entitled to payment of compensation. This is guaranteed when the federal government compulsorily acquires property since it is a requirement of the Commonwealth Constitution that it pay "just terms". Although a similar guarantee was included in the original draft of the 1855 NSW Constitution, it was dropped before enactment and there has never been an equivalent to the Commonwealth requirement to pay "just terms" in the state constitution.
Although the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991 provides that public authorities in NSW have a statutory obligation to pay the market value of real property they acquire, the High Court confirmed in the 2001 case of Durham Holdings Pty Ltd v NSW, that there is nothing to prevent states from evading such a requirement by amending or repealing the law.
This is not what is being proposed now, but it highlights how vulnerable property rights are in the states. In any case, no one in Australia has an absolute right to private property. Either level of government can move to acquire your holdings, but the traditional justification for this has been that the government will proceed to use the land itself for the public interest. What Sartor is proposing is far more, shall we say, entrepreneurial. If he has his way, the state government as well as local councils, will be able to compel landowners to give up their property so that it may be sold in turn to developers. This may be to the profit of the government or council - but the sale can also be to the developer at a loss.
Concerns that this has the potential to fuel corruption of elected representatives by development companies sending hefty political donations their way seem worth heeding. The Minister's response - that property will only be acquired for sale to a developer when it is for "net public benefit" - won't reassure many.
While controversial in themselves, these proposals are just an example of the ease with which Australian governments can strip away freedoms in the absence of a charter.
The public will have heard that claim before - perhaps when new anti-terrorism measures have been introduced or when the residents of Sydney found themselves subject to extraordinary new police powers during APEC. Those powers have since been made permanent.
For many, alarm over these developments would not have had much resonance - such laws often being perceived as likely to affect only those out to cause trouble. Capitalising on this assumption, opponents of charters regularly portray them as the refuge of criminals and ratbags.
That line is harder to run when governments start proposing to take people's property and sell it to big business - whether to turn a profit or give developers' plans a smoother run. It makes it difficult to swallow Hatzistergos's insistence that the political classes should be trusted to respect our rights. We can be forgiven for thinking that something additional is needed to ensure this.
American experience shows that a charter of rights may not prevent a law of the kind Sartor is proposing. Adding a legal avenue to rights protection is no guarantee against disappointment. The meaning of freedoms is often contestable and courts can reach poor decisions - which is why modern charters leave elected representatives with an ultimate power of override. But the benefit of a charter is not so much the expanded role it gives the judiciary but the responsibility it places upon the political arms of government.
This is the point Hatzistergos and other charter opponents never discuss. The existence of a legal instrument articulating citizen's rights compels politicians to lift their game. The difference a charter might make to the Sartor proposals is that the express recognition of property owners' rights gives them clear political value and compels the parliament to confront this before setting them aside for the "net public benefit".
Also, under a charter the right to compensation for those who lose property would be less precarious than now under ordinary statute.
A modern charter still enables parliaments to remove recognised rights - but they are obliged to do so transparently, not by ambush or stealth. Charters promote political accountability and respect for the people beyond their role at the ballot box every few years. They enrich, rather than diminish, democracy - for all "ordinary citizens".
Andrew Lynch is acting director of the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, UNSW.
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Sartor attacks the struggling Aussie home owner
April 21, 2008 - AHC Press Release
For nearly three years the Redfern Aboriginal Housing Company has been tirelessly fighting the NSW Government's efforts to seize privately owned Aboriginal land in Redfern and remove the Aboriginal community.
“If Frank Sartor had his way he would kick us off our own land”, said Mick Mundine, Chief Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Housing Company. “The fact we own the land is the only thing that has stopped the NSW Government from destroying us”.
The proposed Bill before parliament changes all the rules. The Company and the Redfern community fear this is the last nail in their coffin and if the legislation is passed it will give Planning Minister Frank Sartor and his developer benefactors all the ammunition they need to finally move the last obstacle to the Chatswoodisation of Redfern.
“The Block is the final blockage to Sartor's plans to make Redfern into a mini Chatswood. This law is all he needs to finally steal private Aboriginal land from right under our noses,” said Mick Mundine.
“If private property rights are not respected in NSW what good is our democracy. Its nothing but a scam. Frank Sartor is tearing the heart out of struggling working class home owners in NSW,“ said Mick Mundine.
The Aboriginal community has called on the NSW Upper House to block the Bill and urges the people of NSW to recognise the danger to their family home, to make greedy developers even richer.
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The developer donations the Greens say the minister must explain
April 6, 2008 - SMH
By Matthew Benns
EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY developers have handed the NSW Labor Party more than $4 million in donations in the three years since the laws were changed to give Planning Minister Frank Sartor control of large developments.
Research by the Greens found 10 of the biggest developers paid more than $1 million to the Labor Party while Mr Sartor considered $1.5 billion worth of their building works across NSW.
Major projects worth another $70 million from the same developers are in Mr Sartor's in-tray waiting for his personal tick of approval under his Part 3A planning powers.
The Greens plan to use the explosive research to demand a royal commission to investigate developer donations and the Government's planning approval process.
NSW Greens MP Sylvia Hale said it was not an issue of corruption but of a conflict of interest.
"When the Labor Party accepts donations from a developer who has a major development application being determined by a Labor planning minister, there is a blatant conflict of interest. The problem is where the public sees a conflict of interest, the Labor Party sees a fundraising opportunity," she said.
Five researchers took six months to scour Australian Electoral Commission returns, donation registers from the NSW Election Funding Authority and timelines from the Department of Planning's Register of Major Projects. They claimed many of Mr Sartor's key decisions to approve developments coincided with substantial developer donations to the NSW Labor Party.
Developer Stockland has donated more than $100,000 to the ALP while seeking approval for a number of developments on the NSW south coast.
The research shows that in August 2006 Meriton donated $100,000, a month before submitting revised development applications for more than 200 apartments on the Rhodes Peninsula. In August and November 2007 those development applications were approved by Mr Sartor.
Stockland and Meriton also made donations to the Liberal Party.
Ms Hale said: "The Stockland and Meriton cases require a thorough, independent and open investigation by a royal commissioner with the power to call and compel witnesses including the minister, his staff, party officials and anyone associated with the donations."
Last week Ms Hale introduced a bill to make it an offence for political parties or candidates to accept donations from developers. "The pattern of donations to the Labor Party coinciding with favourable decisions for the developers who made those donations cannot be ignored or explained away," she said.
Mr Sartor's extraordinary powers come from the July 2005 changes to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, which allow him to take control of any development worth more than $50 million or of state significance. Mr Sartor has 324 major projects on his desk under the Part 3A amended section of the act.
Liberal Party research shows 48 of the developers involved in those projects have donated to the NSW ALP.
Opposition spokesman for planning Brad Hazzard said the issue was not about corruption but "an appalling conflict of interest".
"NSW Labor has created a culture where businesses think that they have to donate to Labor to get their development on the minister's desk or to eventually get approval."
Premier Morris Iemma has promised to "close the loopholes" in the donations system. And last week Mr Sartor released a draft bill aimed at "reinvigorating the planning system".
But Local Government Association president Genia McCaffery said the proposed changes kept control in the hands of Mr Sartor.
"This is really scary because what it says to communities is that you get the best government you can pay for - and that is not what democracy is meant to be about," she said.
Yesterday a spokeswoman for Mr Sartor said: "All applications are strictly determined on their merits, based on departmental advice. Donations to political parties of any kind are not a relevant consideration at all. The minister stands by all his determinations and would welcome an examination of any of them. The minister does, however, acknowledge that there is community concern about political donations and he fully supports the Premier's moves to reform the system."
She said Mr Sartor had inherited the Rhodes Peninsula and Sandon Point developments (see case studies, right).
"Sandon Point has undergone more planning assessment than just about any site in NSW over a seven- or eight-year period, and the minister stands 100 per cent by his decision. In fact, the footprint of the development approved is less than would have been allowed under previous industrial zones.
"Over the last few years the minister has progressively delegated consent powers for the Rhodes Peninsula to the local council."
A Stockland spokesperson said: "We are committed to dealing ethically with all of our stakeholders. The merits of our projects are the only criteria on which we expect them to be judged."
A Meriton spokesperson said: "Meriton, like other businesses (not just developers), donates to political parties (not just the ALP) so that we may be listened to - not that we are.
"Of course, we would prefer a system where we could have access to government differently. We have never requested any project to be called up by the minister under Part 3A, preferring to deal with local councils and the Land and Environment Court. The only sites we have under the control of the Department of Planning are those on the Rhodes Peninsula, for which the department has always been the consent authority - not just for Meriton, but for all development in Rhodes."

Source: The Sun-Herald
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Pollies exit stage left for a big cash landing
April 6, 2008 - SMH
MANY developers in NSW know exactly who to call in the Labor Government because many of their key advisers worked for it.
Take former premier Bob Carr, for example.
After leaving parliament he accepted a $500,000-a-year consultancy role with the state's biggest private investor in public infrastructure, Macquarie Bank.
Former Labor senator and national president Stephen Loosely works as a senior executive for developer Babcock&Brown, which donated $136,000 to the NSW ALP through its companies in the last financial year.
Former ACT Labor minister Paul Whalan joined the Village Building Company, a developer that has donated $164,900 to the NSW ALP.
In Goulburn, developer Southern Distribution Hub put project director Bob Stephens in charge of its $1 billion road transport depot.
Mr Stephens stood as a Labor candidate at three elections and is married to ALP senator Ursula Stephens.
Property developers are represented by a group called Urban Taskforce Australia.
The group's chief executive is Aaron Gadiel, who was chief of staff to both former right-wing Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid and Ports Minister Joe Tripodi.
Developers who need "assistance with development proposals and approvals" turn to Hawker Britton, the public affairs company founded by Mr Carr's former chief-of-staff, Bruce Hawker.
On the Hawker team are: Sean Macken, former policy adviser to deputy premier Andrew Refshauge; Rob Griggs, a former "senior" NSW Labor Government official; and Premier Morris Iemma's former director of communications, Eamonn Fitzpatrick.
Hawker's new Canberra chief is Simon Banks, former chief-of-staff or deputy to three federal Labor leaders.
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History in the Making - Indigenous Centre Proposed
March 19, 2008 - Central
Sydney could soon become a world-class destination for Aboriginal heritage with a proposed indigenous history and culture centre gaining local support from figures including Aboriginal activist Mickey Mundine, who says Redfern is the perfect location reports Lisa Capozzi in the cover story of Central of 19 March 2008 with photos (including a front page of Mick Mundine and children on the AHC's land at the Block) by Phil Rogers, Danielle Butters, AP.

Indigenous Centre Proposed
SYDNEY could soon become an international tourist destination for Aboriginal heritage with an indigenous history and culture centre proposed on the back of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apology to the stolen generations last month reports Lisa Capozzi in the Central of 19 March 2008..
The proposed centre, which is gaining support from high-profile Sydney personalities including NSW Governor Marie Bashir, is included in Sydney Council's yet-to-be released Sustainable Sydney 2030 document and the city's corporate and social plans.
Councillor Marcelle Hoff said the idea was to create an internationally recognised, comprehensive centre that tells the story of indigenous Australians.
"The idea is now gaining momentum with an enormous amount of interest being shown by a wide range of people," Cr Hoff told Central.
"There are some really powerful people interested."
A concept paper on the proposed centre obtained by Central said a great deal of community consultation would occur before the concept could be realised. "The centre will document and exhibit the history and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, preserving the memories and stories of individuals and communities," the paper, produced by Cr Hoff as a guide only, reads.
"Containing the world's largest repository of information on indigenous Australians, 'The Centre' will be a leader in indigenous Australian history, culture, education, commemoration, art, research and documentation and will be accessed by visitors, students and academics.
"It will, by its very nature, be a place for reconciliation and hope."
Examples for the concept to follow include the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in New York, the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.
The concept plan also states an advisory or exploratory committee needs to be established. It is expected a proposal to form the committee will come to council as early as next month.
"This committee will include Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal leaders who share the vision for this project," the plan says.
Cr Hoff said the project provided an opportunity to capitalise on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apology. "Indigenous Australians face many challenges at a time when Australia is enjoying unprecedented economic and lifestyle prosperity," she said.
"The opportunity exists for this project to be a springboard to uplift and honour the spirit of indigenous Australians, to share their rich history and culture with the rest of society, and to look to a brighter future.
"Politically, socially, culturally, the time is right to begin this project."
Photo: Marcelle Hoff and Michael Kirby are overcome with emotion as they watch Prime Minister Kevin Rudd deliver an apology to the stolen generations.
Centre Ideas
* A painting of a serpent on the floor that leads visitors on the journey.
* Aromas of eucalyptus and smoke.
* Traditional Aboriginal music.
* Aboriginal elders handling specific exhibits along the way - an exhibit on the Stolen Generation may have representatives of this group who would be willing to tell their own stories.
* A comprehensive library of indigenous Australian archives, books, artefacts, art and multimedia.
* Facilities for in-house education, seminars and lectures for visitors, students and scholars. Programs and material produced there could be made available for educational purposes throughout Australia and overseas.
* The centre and its elements will be given Aboriginal names.
* Suggested sites include Redfern, Pier 2/3, Cockatoo Island, Snapper Island and Goat Island.
* A contribution of land, facilities and money by local, state and federal governments would be crucial.
* The centre would be designed as an embodiment of reconciliation and a major domestic and international tourist destination.
Let's Build it on the Block: Mundine
ABORIGINAL leader Mickey Mundine says Redfem's Block is the perfect place for an indigenous heritage and cultural centre reports Lisa Capozzi in the Central of 19 March 2008.
He described the concept as "a blessing" and said it would fit perfectly with the Aboriginal Housing Company's plans to redevelop the Block to create new housing and an Aboriginal educational and cultural hub. "It will change the face of this community," Mr Mundine told Central.
"This is where the Aboriginals are and this is where we will stay - it would be a blessing to show people about our culture.
"The Block is the perfect place - this is our main watering hole, it is a modern sacred site."
Playing with Redfern children last week, Mundine said it was them that would benefit the most.
"It's for the next generation," he said.
"As adults, we need to start paving the way for them. "I really feel, now that Kevin Rudd has said sorry, that a door has been opened, and it is time people started coming to Redfern to learn about the true history of Aboriginal culture."
He said the cultural centre would complement aspects of the Aboriginal Housing Company's Pemulway project for Eveleigh St, which includes 62 new houses and educational and health facilities.

Time for Action - Editorial
PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd's apology to the stolen generations touched millions of people across the country, with many branding it a breakthrough in the reconciliation journey Writes Lisa Capozzi in the Central Editorial of 19 March 2008..
But now the words have been said, it's time for action, and an indigenous Australian history and cultural centre for Sydney is a great place to start.
The centre would make Aboriginal culture a tourist drawcard for the city, which has strong Indigenous roots. Although there is a large Aboriginal tourist centre in Cairns, there isn't anything similar in Sydney, a city which attracts more than half of all overseas tourists coming to Australia every year, according to the latest International Visitor Survey released this week. It makes sense to educate tourists - and locals for that matter - about Aboriginal history and heritage.
Aboriginal activist Mickey Mundine told me a story about overseas visitors who recently got out of Sydney's airport terminal and asked a taxi driver to take them to where the Aboriginals were.
The taxi driver, not knowing where to go, took the unsuspecting tourists to the deserted streets of Woolloomooloo - a place he thought was where Aboriginals were.
"No, not here," the passengers said. So the taxi driver took them to Red-fern's Eveleigh Street, and left them there, to see where the Aboriginals lived. Wouldn't it be nice if the taxi driver had somewhere to take the tourists, eager to learn about Australian history. Seeing Redfern kiddies laugh and learn from Mundine was pretty special. Let's hope the centre will get the go ahead so others can learn too.
Source: Central of 19 March 2008
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Aborigines seek change
March 04, 2008 - ISA Consulting
In the wake of PM Rudd's historic apology, native Australians await the next move.
Indigenous Australians reacted joyfully to new Premier Kevin Rudd's apology to the "stolen generation," but are now looking to the new Labour government to reverse the antagonistic approach taken by the John Howard administration with a mixture of hope and trepidation.
With the apology, Rudd appeared to signal his commitment to one of the more daring domestic initiatives attempted by an Australian prime minister, embarking on what promises to be a long and tortuous path to the reconciliation of the Commonwealth with its marginalized half-million-strong indigenous minority.
Stolen generations
In his historic speech to parliament on 13 February, Rudd, addressing indigenes directly, said: "We apologize for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians."
"We apologize especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country. For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry."
Asked how residents of Redfern, the traditional Sydney heartland of the civil rights struggle, responded to the Rudd apology, Aboriginal Housing Corporation (AHC) Project Director Peter Valilis told ISA: "Everywhere you went people were in tears. It was like this massive emotional release because people had worked so hard for this and really prayed and struggled for this. When it happened, I'll be honest, I cried man, and I'm a big guy who never cries."
More than 100,000 Aboriginal children of largely mixed descent were taken from their families from 1869 to the mid 20th century in a series of state, territorial and federal programs that have since been roundly condemned.
There has been a series of apologies in recent years from state and territorial governments, and the failure of the Howard government to follow suit was seen as an outrage by Aborigines and their supporters.
Kirstie Parker, editor of a national newspaper for indigenous Australians, the Koori Mail, told ISA: "The apology [...] was widely regarded by Aboriginal people, including members of the stolen generations, as a very thorough apology. People were very pleased with it, were very moved by it, and accepted it on face value."
"Very few people, however, have said that an apology will suffice. And that stems partly from the recommendations of a report called 'Bringing them home,' which reported about 10 years ago that there needs to be a comprehensive response by government to the stolen generations issue."
In "Bringing them Home," tabled in parliament in 1997, commissioners recommended the payment of reparations money to victims and the funding of indigenous agencies active in recording personal testimonies, characterizing the removal program as a gross human rights abuse and "genocide."
"The ALP [Labor] in its election campaign said: 'We will respond comprehensively to the recommendations,'" Parker noted. However, she said, "Rudd, has been quite vehement in saying that there will be no compensation paid by the Commonwealth."
Analysts believe that the fact the removals policy did not breach Australian law at the time will prevent significant legal challenges to the Labour government's refusal to pay compensation.
Attention then turns to state level where, on 1 August 2007, forcible removal victim Bruce Trevorrow won a AUD535,000 (€331,281) compensation package from a South Australian court following a years-long battle with the state government, which is challenging the ruling.
"The Tasmanian government earlier this year announced the details of its own AUD5 million compensation fund for stolen generation [claims …] in Tasmania," Parker said.
Eleven dark years
The hopes expressed by Aborigines for substantive change in government indigenous affairs policy reflect a deep disenchantment with the previous administration's conduct.
The Howard government took a predominantly adversarial approach to the Aboriginal community, refusing to apologize for past colonial injustices and making moves that appeared designed to undermine native land rights in the wake of the High Court's 1992 Mabo ruling and passage of the Native Land Title Act (1993).
In its Mabo ruling, the court established the basis for the recognition of the rights and interests to land held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders under their traditional laws and customs. This recognition was subsequently enshrined through the 1993 act, which, amongst other things, established the institutional basis for resolving native title disputes through the National Native Title Tribunal.
While the infrastructural and legal basis for the resolution of native title claims has been established, the poor performance of related bodies and slow pace and expense of the legal process has led to significant disenchantment amongst both Aborigines and state officials, forcing emendations.
In 2004, the Howard government downgraded its ties with the Aboriginal community by deciding to do away with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), a body elected by indigenous Australians, responsible for the overall coordination of government programs for their communities. In 2005, those authorities held by ATSIC were dispersed to existing government departments.
The Howard government used the embroilment of ATSIC head Geoff Clark in a pack rape scandal as a lever in the dissolution of the body, which was conducted with the agreement of the Labour party - although the latter opposed the decision not to seek the formation of a replacement body.
"Anything is better than Howard," Valilis opined. "They could put a pack of dogs there and some trained monkeys and it would be better than Howard. John Howard absolutely hated Aboriginal people and he took a very extremist right-wing approach to them."
With Howard gone, the Liberal/National opposition coalition has made initial moves to distance itself from his indigenous affairs policy, expressing support for the Rudd apology after some wavering, and agreeing to a role in a new commission to examine indigenous housing.
However, in his speech backing the prime minister's statement, new opposition leader Brendon Nelson shocked many Aborigines in referring to allegations of sexual abuse in indigenous communities, describing Aborigines as wandering in "existential aimlessness" in circumstances both "intractable and disgraceful."
Urban struggle
Valilis told ISA that the AHC organization was "the first Aboriginal community housing company in Australia, predating public housing. We are a prototype for community housing and we've been around for around 35 years now. We house around 310 people," he said.
"To be honest with you, government has no idea what the hell they are doing anyway and really they should consider divesting a lot of these housing issues to community groups who are on the ground all the time and really understand the community, rather than having this top down approach which they have right now," Valilis said.
The AHC-owned public housing development on the edge of the Sydney suburb of Redfern known as "The Block," has long served as an epicenter for the Aboriginal rights struggle and as a symbol both of resistance and autonomous development.
Valilis: "We have turned around and said no to government funding. So we are trying to build on our own. It is tough because it is not easy to do these things without funding. But independence is more important and self-determination and self-government is more important."

It was on Eveleigh St, bordering The Block, that long-standing enmity between the police and residents exploded in the so-called Redfern riots of 17 February 2004, following the death of a 17-year-old boy, impaled on a fence as he fled what he thought was a police pursuit on his bicycle.
Valilis noted that community-police relations had improved significantly in the wake of the riot through the offices of a former police commander who treated locals "with respect and compassion" eschewing the "Neo-Nazi" approach of former years.
Aborigines throughout Australia encounter significant non-institutional racism from landlords when they seek accommodation. This problem is compounded in central Sydney by the paucity and expense of private rentals, rapid development and poor economic status of the local indigenous community.
"If you look at the reasoning why the AHC was established, it was because of racism. It was because Aboriginal people couldn't get housing from private rental," Valilis said. "And the fact that we are still around clearly indicates that those issues are still there."
Asked to compare and contrast the challenges facing urban Aboriginal communities such as Redfern and their rural counterparts, Valilis said, "Obviously we are very different, but Redfern is very much a litmus test for the way Aboriginal people are treated everywhere else. The difference is we are very high profile while in the country it is sort of 'out of sight out of mind'."
Unwanted intervention
One of the first indigenous affairs challenges that the Rudd government will face is determining its response to the ongoing crisis in the Northern Territory following the Howard government's 2007 emergency intervention in local Aboriginal communities.
The Rudd government has pledged to reinstitute the previous permits system whereby visitors had to seek approval from local Aboriginal communities before venturing onto communally owned land. It remains unclear whether the concomitant five-year suspension of some communities' indigenous land rights by the Howard government will also be rescinded.
The intervention was intended to address allegations of widespread criminality and child sexual abuse in isolated rural communities and was conducted alongside the elaboration of punitive welfare policies, docking beneficiaries half of their welfare checks.
"Welfare quarantining according to people's postcode not on their personal circumstances was implemented," Parker said. Throughout Australia "there is a general fear amongst Aboriginal people of what has happened in the Northern Territory where rights are seen as having been breached with the cooperation of the state and territory government."
Asked to explain welfare quarantining, Parker said, "It basically means that where parents are not sending their kids to school; where it is known in the community that they are not spending their welfare payments on feeding their kids, making sure that they're clothed, making sure that they're safe; there was a suggestion that you should quarantine part of the income of parents who aren't doing these things."
"In the Territory it was introduced across I think around 78-79 Aboriginal communities. If you lived in that community it didn't matter whether you were a great parent, you were having 50 percent of your welfare payment set aside. You could only spend [the other] 50 percent at designated shops.
To Parker, the government was saying, "'We know better than you and we're going to take control of your lives,' in a way that they may have done up to the '60s and '70s but hasn't been done since."
Valilis argues that the permits system (which Rudd appears willing to re-impose) actually helped to protect these communities and that the emergency intervention actually encourages the abuses it is designed to remedy, giving access to "pedophiles and criminals and people who want to sell grog and drugs."
'Snouts in the trough'
As in other post-colonial societies, government efforts to make up for past wrongs through development budgets and other allocations and programs has had little impact on the lives of indigenous Australians, who continue to suffer from devastating socio-economic deprivation and attendant ills.
Valilis believes that the current failure of government and state bodies to significantly affect the lives of Aborigines is due primarily to their failure to channel funds directly to grassroots indigenous groups. At the moment "it is these big over-bloated departments [in control]. Last year there was AUD5 billion set aside, supposed to be spent on Aboriginal people at the federal, state and local level."
"The fact that we had poor outcomes is because of too many snouts feeding at the trough. And not enough money is going down to the people who need it - but there's money in Aboriginal affairs, there's lots of it."
"Who gets this money? It is all the middle men, it's all the bureaucrats and the consultants. You take all that out, you start to remove all these layers and suddenly more and more money is going onto the ground, to the people," he said.

Fragile hopes
It is too early for nascent Labour government initiatives and proposals to have been implemented, making it impossible to judge the scope and potential impact of intended changes.
"I'm very optimistic about Rudd. I think he will change the face of indigenous affairs because he put it on the agenda first up," Valilis said. "On the first day of sitting of parliament he was up at an Aboriginal community, he wasn't even in parliament. So he has really sent the message that it is a priority for them."
Parker is more circumspect, noting that the government intervention in the Northern Territory has yet to be reversed. Citing this failure and the government's opposition to compensation for stolen generations' members, Aboriginal Provisional Government leader Michael Mansell reportedly banned new Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin from setting foot on Aboriginal land in Tasmania last Friday.
"There are some good signs on other fronts," Parker argues, noting that the government is preparing to sign the non-binding UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, "which the Howard government rejected late last year."
"Rudd, in his apology speech talked about a joint policy commission to tackle remote indigenous housing. He said, if it goes well […] he might apply this joint policy commission to exploring constitutional recognition of indigenous people."
"There are promising moves afoot on some fronts but very considerable concerns on others," she concluded.
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Developers coughed up to dine with Planning Minister
February 18, 2008 - SMH
Andrew Clennell State Political Editor

FRANK SARTOR hosted a Labor Party fund-raising dinner attended by more than 30 development companies and which raised more than $500,000 - at the same time the Government was set to make decisions on development applications by some of those companies.
The Herald understands Mr Sartor, the Planning Minister, in a phone conversation with the chief executive of the Stockland Trust Group, Matthew Quinn, asked him if the company was planning to book a table to the dinner, known as the Re-elect Frank Sartor dinner, in February 2006.
Mr Quinn repeatedly refused to comment yesterday when asked if Mr Sartor had made the inquiry. "I can't comment on that," he said.
Mr Sartor's lawyers, Holding Redlich, said last night that any suggestion he used his position as a minister to solicit donations for the party would be false. It said that like all ministers, Mr Sartor attended a large number of functions each year, and that the specific dinner was attended by about 700 people from a range of backgrounds.
A spokeswoman for Mr Sartor said he had "no specific recollection" of the telephone call with Mr Quinn. The office had "no record of Stockland attending the fund-raising dinner held in February 2006. There is, however, record of a Stockland employee sending an apology".
NSW Electoral Commission records show the Labor Party received $8000 from Stockland for the function, indicating it may have paid for a table and then not attended.
Mr Quinn refused to comment yesterday when asked about the $8000, but he confirmed he did not attend the function.
Commission records show developers who attended the function included Mirvac (whose contribution was $12,000), Medich Property Group ($12,000), Roche Group ($12,000), Mars Australian Developments ($2750), Terrace Tower Holdings ($2750), John Boyd Properties ($2750), Johnson Property Group ($12,000), Australand Holdings ($12,000) and Kari and Ghossayn Pty Ltd ($12,000).
Others to attend included Grocon ($12,000), Multiplex ($5500), Mulpha ($12,000), Bradcorp Holdings ($2750), Rosecorp ($6600), Karl Kazal Developments ($8000) and Frasers Greencliff Developments ($6000).
The records show the dinner raised $513,847, but because it cost $317,488 to stage, net proceeds were $196,358.
The Greens MP Lee Rhiannon, who has mounted a concerted campaign to ban developer donations, said for such a fund-raiser to be held by a planning minister opened the Government up to perceptions of "bribes and corruption".
The Opposition Leader, Barry O'Farrell, said: "The real damage done by these sort of functions is the sapping of public confidence in government decision-making."
A spokeswoman for Mr Sartor, Alex Walker, said: "The Minister and the Department of Planning rigorously assess all development applications on their merits, and those merits are the only consideration."
Stockland is involved with a $100 million commercial and residential development near Vincentia, approved by Mr Sartor last February. Grocon, Stockland and Mirvac are also expected to bid to develop the $200 million former Carlton and United Breweries site on Broadway, over which Mr Sartor took planning control last year.
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