The last Aboriginal residents of the Redfern Block will be evicted on November 19 to make way for a new development by the Aboriginal Housing Corporation.
Aboriginal Housing Corporation CEO Mick Mundine told ABC TV’s November 8 Lateline that the development involved commercial interests, which would put money back into the corporation to support affordable housing for local Aboriginal people.
Mundine said: “You've got the commercial and everything — the retail arm next to the student accommodation. We've got a gym, we've got the carpark. So, we could generate about $4 million a year.”
The Block was set up as an Aboriginal housing area in the early 1970s. Redfern had historically been an area where Aboriginal people from across the country came together.
But by the 1980s, the Block had become synonymous with drug use and crime. This was used by police to justify a heavy-handed presence, which locals said was outright intimidation.
The harassment reached its pinnacle in 2004, when Redfern Aboriginal teenager TJ Hickey died while fleeing from police. The death led to an uproar of anger from the local community, who attacked the police station and damaged parts of the train station.
This was heralded by mainstream media pundits as the death of the Block, and developers suddenly found it easier to find partners for redevelopment. Meanwhile, the police were found not guilty of causing TJ’s death — a ruling Redfern residents find hard to believe.
Mundine has said, to his credit, that he remains committed to Aboriginal housing in the Block, but the plan is seen by many as gentrification, which will keep many former residents away. Mundine has said anyone can return, provided they have no history of drug dealing.
In the meantime, we wait to see in what form the Block will survive.
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