Abstract
Although the announcement that all of the tenants were to be relocated was a shock, there had been a slow but steady build up to the conditions that would create the context for the government’s decision. A key factor was the gentrification of the area linked to industrial restructuring and the closure of the ports adjoining Millers Point. Walsh Bay, completed in 2004, involved the redevelopment of the wharves into an upmarket residential, commercial and residential precinct. The decade up to 2014 also saw a massive increase in house prices in the area as high-income households reimagined the inner-city as highly desirable. A critical turning point in the gentrification of the area, was the decision to redevelop the East Darling Harbour/The Hungry Mile on the west side of Millers Point. The Barangaroo development is one of the most spectacular and expensive urban redevelopments ever undertaken in Australia. There are indications that suggest the NSW government displacement policy was heavily influenced by the Barangaroo development. The public housing was viewed as not compatible with the Barangaroo development. The chapter also outlines and questions the government’s rationale for the displacement.
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Notes
- 1.
A 99-year lease is simply a long lease. In terms of the agreement with Housing NSW, the purchaser was required to repair the property purchased in accordance with heritage guidelines.
- 2.
The LAHC falls under the portfolio and direction of the Minister for Family and Community Services who is also the Minister for Social Housing.
- 3.
The NSW government, known as the Coalition government, is constituted by a coalition between the Liberal Party and the Nationals. The latter are regionally based and are supposed to represent the agricultural sector.
- 4.
It is difficult to obtain an accurate picture of the data around social housing in NSW. For example, Gladstone (2018) in an article citing Family and Community Services supplied data, concluded that in 2015/2016 there were 149,906 social housing dwellings of which 113,419 were public housing dwellings and 36,487 were community housing dwellings.
- 5.
IPA is Australia’s peak infrastructure body and its main purpose is to foster “policy partnership between Australia’s governments and industry”.
- 6.
Since the global financial crisis neoliberalism has been increasingly challenged both politically and by economists (see Jacques 2016).
- 7.
The Building Better Cities program was in place between 1991 and 1996. The overall purpose of the Program was
to promote improvements in the efficiency, equity and sustainability of Australian cities and to increase their capacity to meet the following objectives: economic growth and micro-economic reform; improved social justice; institutional reform; ecologically sustainable development; and improved urban environments and more liveable cities (Neilson 1997).
- 8.
Public housing tenants have been moved out of areas in south western Sydney. The relocations were premised on renewing the estates concerned and creating social mix. Tenants were given the option of moving back once the renewal was complete (Crawford et al. 2015). The first Communities Plus project in Ivanhoe in Sydney’s north, also gives the tenants affected, the possibility of returning. Like Millers Point, for many of the residents, the process has been traumatic (see The Salvation Army 2014).
- 9.
In 2017, Lendlease had approximately 12,000 employees and regional head offices in New York, Singapore and London.
- 10.
In 2011, Philip Thalis was elected to the City of Sydney Council as part of Clover Moore’s team.
- 11.
Eileen’s family in Millers Point goes back four generations.
- 12.
Nick was referring to the Barangaroo reserve (public park) which was part of the first stage of the development. A major development, it is directly across from where Nick and Marie used to live.
- 13.
Affordable housing is generally reserved for low-income workers. The rent should not consume more than 30% of gross household income (NSW Government 2018a).
- 14.
This was clearly a primary reason for the massive slump in the popularity of the Abbott government after the passing of the 2014 federal budget. The budget was widely viewed as unfair and therefore “unAustralian”.
- 15.
Campbelltown is 57 km from Sydney’s central business area; Gosford is 78 km, Wollongong is 93 km, Warrawong is 101 km and Newcastle is 117 km distant.
- 16.
By July 2018, the sale of public housing in Millers Point had realised $594.1 million (NSW Government 2018b). There were only five properties left to sell. The Sirius building was still on the market.
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Morris, A. (2019). The Build-Up to the Displacement. In: Gentrification and Displacement: The Forced Relocation of Public Housing Tenants in Inner-Sydney. SpringerBriefs in Sociology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1087-4_4
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