Antinuclear

Collapse of the Aboriginal dream of Redfern

After four decades, Redfern’s dream in tatters, SMH.  June 13, 2014  Saffron Howden It has been 40 years since a group of idealistic, young Aboriginal men and women got fed up with living in “slums and pig sties” and formed a housing association in the heart of Sydney.

The early 1970s were heady times for the Indigenous rights movement in Australia and Redfern was its home ground – arguably the birthplace of land rights, dedicated legal services, and Aboriginal healthcare.

But after just four decades, the dreams of a disparate nation carried by those pioneering activists are on the brink of collapse.

On Saturday morning, the ranks of a newly-established tent embassy, pitched in the heart of The Block, will be bolstered with a rally by the community against their own – the modern-day Aboriginal Housing Company headed by Mick Mundine.

The company has a membership capped at 100 and says it cannot afford to provide housing for Aboriginal people on The Block……..

for the many community members Fairfax has spoken to, the problem is simple: power in Aboriginal Redfern has been consolidated in the hands of a few people.

A Fairfax reporter visited a Redfern community centre in 1973 and recorded the words on a sign there that promised so much, but seem cruel in 2014: “[The Block] project belongs to the black community. Please don’t destroy it. This means you.”http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/after-four-decades-redferns-dream-in-tatters-20140613-zs6qw.html#ixzz34qL0sO1Y

June 16, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | General News