The event opened with rousing performances from the two choirs. As organiser Kelly Haynes put it: “(Joyous) is not quite how we’re feeling at the moment … but singing does indeed lift the soul.” The sets included popular songs by Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen as well as an original piece about plastic bottles imaginatively entitled “Forty Billion Bottles”. The two choirs then combined to sing “My Island Home”, a rendition which left several in the audience in tears. Cherie Johnson has lived in the area since 1980 and was overwhelmed by the emotion in the room: “To think that the songs were pertaining to what we’re losing in the community… It was beautiful.”
There was then an interval, with food provided by a number of community organisations including the Save Our Sirius Foundation and The Working Party.
Later in the afternoon, filmmaker Blue Lucine launched a crowd funding campaign for her upcoming documentary Forced Out. The film documents the struggles of residents affected by public housing sell-offs in the area. She has followed the issue since it was first announced in March 2014 and now has more than 200 hours of content. Money from the campaign will help her team edit the film and prepare it for distribution.
Jess Scully, a member of Clover Moore’s recently renewed council team, was on hand to launch the campaign. “Sydney has a very short memory,” said Ms Scully, “but with filmmaking and powerful stories we can change that.”
A total of $500 was raised in donations along with $150 in book sales. The Forced Out campaign aims to raise $80,000, approximately one third of the cost to date, but organiser John McInerney declared the event a “good start”.
Long time local Peter Muller is pleased by the support, but not surprised. “Everyone I know has a connection to Millers Point,” he said. “Many peoples’ families had their first experience of Australia here. It’s an example of what works.”
