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REDFERN COMMUNITY CENTRE: THE BEGINNING

April 2004

DEBORAH RUIZ WALL

Deborah Wall is a foundation member of Redfern Residents for Reconciliation (RRR). In this piece for The South Sydney Herald, she gives a background of RRR's advocacy for a community centre.

Picture: Prof Marie Bashir, NSW Governor officially opens Redfern Community Centre in 2004 with Aboriginal elder, Auntie Joyce Ingram

Redfern Community Centre, a doorway to a brighter future on The Block


Deborah Wall
Redfern Residents for Reconciliation

(Source: The South Sydney Herald Volume One, Number nineteen, April 2004, p. 4)

‘It is hard to believe it has happened!’ former councilor Jill Lay of South Sydney Council exclaimed after Professor Marie Bashir AC, Governor of New South Wales officially opened the new Redfern Community Centre on 13 March.

Dr Wendy Sarkissian (Sarkissian Associates Planners Pty Ltd) whom Council employed to conduct community consultations regarding the use of the site, agreed with Jill Lay, ‘It’s a day I never dreamt would happen!’ She flew from Brisbane to attend the Centre’s opening. Sr Pat Ormesher, a Catholic nun who lived for 17 years on the Block was also delighted to see the launch of the Centre.

After the Redfern riots, following the death of T.J.Hickie, the Centre’s opening is a  momentous event. Local Aboriginal elder, Auntie Joyce Ingram, was visibly moved when she cut the ribbon at the Centre’s main entrance.

The facility is a multi-purpose building which can be used for training, arts and craft activities, cultural programs, meeting rooms and other functions.  The space outside may be used for outdoor performances or open markets.  This was the last official function of former Mayor of South Sydney Council, Commissioner Tony Pooley, under whose ALP administration this project was completed.

It is indeed hard to believe that early in 1998, the old South Sydney Council wanted to demolish the old warehouse, the Wilson Bros buildings.  Strong community lobbying, mainly by Redfern Residents for Reconciliation, resulted in Council shelving the plan temporarily, and engaging social planners to conduct community consultations.

Consultations over this site involved many parties, often with conflicting objectives.

Four groups (Redfern Residents for Reconciliation, Redfern Aboriginal Corporation, the Settlement and Renew) put forward a joint proposal for the use of the site as a Reconciliation Community and Cultural Centre and for job creation opportunities.  Another group, the Chippendale Residents Wilson Bros Factory Site Action Group wanted a police station installed on the site as well as a park. The meetings were often tense and contentious.

Redfern Residents for Reconciliation organised a petition online and a website to highlight its reconciliation orientation and support the use of the former Wilson Bros factory site by the Aboriginal community for productive purposes.

The community’s feelings about the site were mixed. Some felt the refurbishment of the Centre was a step that would lead to upgrading the area.  Others felt it was the beginning of the end of The Block and the Aboriginal community’s access to low cost housing.  The Aboriginal Housing Company, on the other hand, wanted to speed up its housing development project for the area and get rid of what it sees as entrenched drug problems there.

Four community representatives were appointed by Council to the steering committee: Dennis Weatherall, Deborah Wall, Margaret Weir and Jan Flanagan.

Each of these representatives held different views. 

Apart from campaigning for a Reconciliation Centre, Redfern Residents for Reconciliation lobbied for the preservation of the Block as a heritage item under the ATSI Heritage Protection Act 1984. With support from a Builder’s Union, the group approached Lee Rhiannon, Greens MLC, NSW Parliament House, to put forward their view.

However, in 1999, South Sydney Council approved the demolition of the derelict houses on The Block, rejecting the argument that these buildings could still be salvaged and conserved through internal refurbishment.

Finally, Auntie Joyce Ingram, who is now in her early eighties, is ready to move out of The Block.  For many years her refusal to agree to relocation was seen as a defiant stance that effectively stalled the progress of the Aboriginal Housing Company’s development plans.  Her house is among those facing demolition.

It took six years and the opening of the Community Centre for a positive glow to fill the recent tense atmosphere on the Block.  Community groups will now have the opportunity to use the centre productively and keep alive the strong spirit that is at the heart of the community.
     
   
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Redfern Residents for Reconciliation

Upon the release of the 'Bringing them Home' report which documented the stories of Aboriginal children who were separated from their parents as a consequence of Government policy, a people's movement around Australia began to gather momentum. Someone had the idea of creating 'Sorry  Books which would contain signatures from Australians who wish to apologise to Aboriginal people for the way they were treated. In 1997, seven people met in Lynda Buxton's house in Redfern to discuss how to offer their own apology. Mary Stringer, a social worker suggested that the group could collect signatures  for "Sorry Books" too. It was also decided to hold a 'Sorry Day'  event on the Block in Redfern. Redfern's 'Sorry Day' took place in May 1998 at Pastor Dick Blair's property in Holden Street. The apology was read collectively by non Aboriginal people, and this was accepted. The atmosphere was electric. People embraced one another.Tears flowed freely. There was dancing, eating and singing. More than 140 people attended.  This was the beginning of  many activities initiated by a group now known as Redfern Residents for Reconciliation.
     
   
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