Victory for The Block

Demonstrators at the Redfern Tent Embassy are describing their overnight protest on the opening day of NAIDOC Week as a victory, as developers did not begin construction on Monday as scheduled.

Blockade for The Block invited protestors to join the Tent Embassy on Sunday night to halt construction on the Aboriginal Housing Company’s (AHC) $7 million Pemulwuy development of The Block. Event organisers predicted a strong police presence and possible forced eviction early Monday morning.

Event co-organiser Kyol Blakeney thanked the participants, estimated at over 200, and highlighted the importance of postponing construction.

“Today we had a small taste of what victory could feel like with no interruptions to our blockade. It was because of the people who showed up and those who supported through media, donations and moral support that we were able to have a bulldozer free day.”

Police arrived shortly before 5am, cordoning off the main entrance to the Tent Embassy via Redfern Station. Members of the police said they would be making no comment on the situation.

Two protesters scaled the roof of the Aboriginal Housing Company building overnight, unfurling a banner reading ‘always was, always will be Aboriginal land.’ Another two had climbed the Elouera Tony Mundine gym, draping a banner across Alex Tui’s iconic Aboriginal flag mural with the text ‘sovereignty never ceded’.

Police negotiators ascended both rooftops without success.

By approximately 7:30am, protestors had received notification that if no construction workers were present on the site by 9am, they would not be asked to move along. No construction workers appeared throughout the day.

Wiradjuri Elder and Redfern Tent Embassy organiser Jenny Munro described the protest as “a victory”.

The Block subsumes the majority of the 10,500m2 owned by the AHC, all of which is designated for the Pemulwuy development. This will include 62 affordable homes for the local Indigenous community, 42 units for student accommodation, a childcare centre, commercial and retail space, a gallery and gymnasium.

Yet many locals, including City of Sydney councillor and Redfern public housing resident Irene Doutney, are sceptical of Pemulwuy’s benefits.

“The community feeling is that the student housing will be too expensive to benefit Aboriginal students. It seems to be a cash cow to build more parts of the Pemulwuy project – and then somehow more money will come out of nowhere to fund the construction of affordable housing,” Cr Doutney said.

A 2012 State Government Planning & Infrastructure Report on the Pemulwuy redevelopment noted that all 62 dwellings in Precinct 1 of the development were to be retained in the ownership of the AHC, and under their management should provide these as affordable housing opportunities.

Private investors are understood to have backed the construction of student housing and commercial space, yet the AHC has failed to raise any private funding for the affordable housing.

According to Cr Doutney, numbers cited at Council meetings do not indicate the projected rents of Precinct 1 to be affordable for the local Indigenous community.

“The affordable housing that was earmarked for Aboriginal families wasn’t affordable. It wasn’t 30% of their income, or 80% of the market. It was comparable to the market.”

“This is an incredible start to NAIDOC week. What an incredible contradiction and sadness to the Aboriginal community if they were evicted.”

The AHC did not respond to requests for comment at time of publication.