“Aboriginal sovereignty is the key issue,” one protester said. “We are here for the long term – to stop [CEO Mick Mundine] from selling out our land from under us.”
The protest comes as the AHC pursues the first stage of its Pemulwuy Project which entails the building of student housing on the eastern side of Eveleigh Street (adjacent to the railway line). The student housing and retail development, it is planned, will provide an income stream for the construction and ongoing support for affordable Aboriginal housing on The Block.
AHC General Manager, Lani Tuitavake, said: “While we are still talking to the government about funding options for affordable housing, so much of the Aboriginal housing money goes to remote communities, overlooking the needs of the urban population.” At the last census 31.7 per cent of the NSW Indigenous population lives in greater Sydney.
The current protest has been reported with some ambiguities in the mainstream press. The site of the tent embassy on The Block, which is 6,500 square metres of the total 10,500 square metres owned by the AHC in the precinct, is designated for 62 Aboriginal affordable homes.
As outlined in the Development Application, which was on exhibition for public comment in Council offices in Redfern and the City, and on the NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure’s website and offices for six weeks from mid-January 2012, these homes include 36 three- and four-bedroom townhouses, and 26 two- and three-bedroom apartments above the gym. The DA approval was finally granted on December 22, 2012, and all details are still available on the Department’s website at “Pemulwuy Mixed Used Development, Redfern”.
In a climate that sees government sell-offs of public housing to fund maintenance, the AHC is determined to secure the long-term independence and financial security of Pemulwuy. Mick Mundine said: “We have to be able to look into the eyes of our grandchildren and know that we have fought and secured the future of The Block for Aboriginal people.”
