By Graham Matthews
SYDNEY — Around 150 Aborigines and their supporters rallied on March 13 to save the Block around Eveleigh Street, Redfern. Organised by the Redfern Aboriginal Housing Coalition, the rally condemned plans to relocate up to 100 Aboriginal families from housing owned by the Aboriginal Housing Company Ltd. in Redfern and to commercially develop the land.
In a strategy statement circulated at the rally the coalition demanded that the Aboriginal Housing Company be reorganised, and that it become more democratic, open and accountable to the whole Redfern Aboriginal community.
The Aboriginal Housing Company Ltd. has managed the Block since the land was won by the Aboriginal community in 1973. Officially membership of the company is open to all residents. One of the main criticisms of the coalition is that the company's management makes decisions without consultation, and that it has excluded community members from meetings.
The coalition called on the housing company to redevelop the housing that it owns while maintaining the Aboriginal community's historical and cultural connection with Redfern.
The company's proposals to relocate the 77 families living on the Block to Sydney's west would cost $18.2 million. The coalition's alternative is to establish an Aboriginal training company which would employ around 50 apprentices from the local Aboriginal community to renovate the houses over four to six years at a total cost of $12 million. As well as saving $6.2 million (which could instead be spent on buying more housing in Redfern), the coalition claims that its proposals would create jobs for the community, while the company's proposals would not.
In the 23 years since Aborigines took control of the Block, the coalition claims that many of the original houses have become uninhabitable as a result of the company's inconsistent attention to maintenance. Speakers demanded that residents be given a choice to stay at the Block or to relocate.
The rally called on the company to fulfil its obligations under the law, and that all members of the Aboriginal community around Redfern be thoroughly consulted before any relocation moves are made. The Redfern Aboriginal Housing Coalition can be contacted at PO Box 964, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012.