Episode 1
The destruction of a public housing community at
Millers Point, Sydney, Part 1
This is a two-part program about the scandal that occurred in Sydney between 2014-2018 where 580 public tenants were forced to relocate from their generations-long homes at Millers Point and the Sirius Building right on Sydney Harbour, to make way for the sale of the housing on the open market. This led to the area transforming from a working-class community to become one of the wealthiest areas in Australia with devastating consequences for many of the tenants involved.
In the first episode I’m in conversation with Professor Alan Morris. Alan wrote a report on what happened and the implications of his insights are important lessons for current and future housing redevelopment proposals.
Alan also talks about his more recent research, his concern about the crisis in housing in Australia and the important role of academia in housing policy.
In the next episode we’ll hear from Barney Gardiner who has lived at Millers Point for 77 years. Barney was one of the leaders of the resistance to the relocations. With Barney is Marie Sillars who experienced a similar forced relocation at Macquarie Park.
Links and Notes
Professor Morris produced a report in 2016 called ‘A Contemporary Forced Urban Removal: Millers Point, Dawes Point and the Sirius Building by the New South Wales Government’. Also see more recent research by Alan.
