The Block is a colloquial but universally applied name given to a residential block of social housing in the suburb of Redfern, Sydney, bound by Eveleigh, Caroline, Louis and Vine Streets. Beginning in 1973, houses on this block were purchased over a period of 30 years by the Aboriginal Housing Company (AHC) for use as a project in Aboriginal-managed housing.
The Block is probably the most famous feature of the suburb of Redfern, although it is located on the western border of that suburb, on the edge of Darlington. The focus of life in the Block has always been Eveleigh Street, which is its eastern border, with railway lines on the other side of that street. The Block is in the immediate vicinity of Redfern station.
The area was significant as an affordable source of low-cost housing for disadvantaged Aboriginal people.
The Block has historically been the subject of large protests, starting in the early 1970s, when landlords in the area conducted a campaign of evicting all Aboriginal residents. A group of campaigners, led by future judge Bob Bellear and his wife Kay, successfully lobbied the Whitlam government for a grant which allowed the Aboriginal Housing Company (AHC) [lower-alpha 1] to commence purchasing houses in 1972. [2] Other people involved in the early days were Bob's brother Sol Bellear; architect Colin James; Lyall Munro Jnr and his wife Jenny Munro; Gary Foley; Paul Coe and his sister Isabel Coe; Billy Craigie (later Isabel's husband); Gary Williams; Naomi Mayers; and many others. [3] In 2017 it was reported that the core founding group comprised eight people, of whom Lyall Munro was the only one still alive. [4]
As a pioneering and still unique project in Aboriginal-run housing near the centre of Australia's largest city, it excites enormous emotions, and moreover is viewed by the largely rural Indigenous population of New South Wales as a pied-à-terre and spiritual home in Australia's largest city.[ citation needed ]
In 2004, the Aboriginal Housing Company decided to raze part of The Block that had deteriorated into a slum. [5]
On 14 February 2004, The Block was the scene of 2004 Redfern riots following the death of an Aboriginal boy, TJ Hickey. Hickey died after, while on his bicycle, he collided with a protruding gutter, was flung into the air and was impaled on a 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) fence outside a block of units off Phillip Street, Waterloo, as he was fleeing police. Hickey was transported from the scene to the Sydney Children's Hospital in a critical but stable condition. He died with his family by his side on 15 February due to the severity of his wounds. [6]
The community were upset about the death, and riots ensued. Redfern railway station was damaged by fire. The ticketing area and station master's office were significantly damaged, and the windows in the front of the station were bricked up for almost a year afterwards to prevent further attacks. They were later replaced with glass windows. [7]
The AHC's plan for the redevelopment of The Block, known as The Pemulwuy Project (after the 18th-century Bidjigal warrior Pemulwuy), was met with some opposition by the state government in 2008. [7] When demolition of The Block was announced in late 2010, London's Telegraph reported that for non-Aboriginal people, The Block had assumed a reputation for violence and crime. [8]
The Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy (based on the idea of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy set up in Canberra in 1972) was set up in 2014 by Lyall Munro Jnr, his wife Jenny Munro, and other activists, to protest against the redevelopment. [9]
In 2017, there was a meeting of around 200 people at the Redfern Community Centre, which had been called to enable the community to ask the AHC about its plans to increase the size of the development. At that time, Alisi Tutuila was chair of the AHC, and Lani Tuitavake was general manager. Many criticised the move, and Lyall Munro (sole survivor of the original eight founders) spoke out against it. It appeared that divisions had emerged between the AHC and sections of the community since the early days. Critics say that the AHC, as a private operator, has abandoned its roots as a community organisation. [4]
As of 2022 [update] the Pemulwuy Project is proceeding. Its design won an award for development excellence in 2021. [10]
Waterloo is an inner southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Waterloo is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Waterloo is surrounded by the suburbs of Redfern and Darlington to the north, Eveleigh and Alexandria to the west, Rosebery to the south, and Moore Park, Zetland, and Kensington to the east.
Redfern is an inner southern suburb of Sydney located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Strawberry Hills is a locality on the border with Surry Hills. The area experienced the process of gentrification and is subject to extensive redevelopment plans by the state government, to increase the population and reduce the concentration of poverty in the suburb and neighbouring Waterloo.
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is a permanent protest occupation site as a focus for representing the political rights of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. Established on 26 January 1972, and celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022, it is the longest continuous protest for Indigenous land rights in the world.
The 2004 Redfern riots took place on the evening of Sunday 15 February 2004, in the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern, New South Wales, and were sparked by the death of 17-year-old Thomas Hickey, also known as TJ Hickey, resulting from a bike accident in the neighbouring suburb of Waterloo on 14 February 2004.
Eveleigh is an inner southern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Eveleigh is located about 3 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney.
Redfern railway station is a heritage-listed former railway bridge and now railway station located on the Main Suburban railway line in the Inner City Sydney suburb of Redfern in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by John Whitton and built by Department of Railways. It is also known as Redfern Railway Station group and Tenterfield railway. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The Redfern-Eveleigh-Darlington or RED project was initiated by the state government of New South Wales to redevelop the deteriorated housing and railway yards in the suburbs of Redfern, Eveleigh and Darlington to the southwest of Sydney central business district. This initiative aimed to alleviate the pressure caused by Sydney's growing population by providing housing for more people near the city center, which can also be referred to as the Central City precinct.
Pemulwuy was a Bidjigal man of the Eora nation, born around 1750 in the area of Botany Bay in New South Wales, Australia. One of the most famous Aboriginal resistance fighters in the colonial era, he is noted for his resistance to European colonisation which began with the arrival of the First Fleet in January 1788.
Robert William "Bob" Bellear was an Australian social activist, lawyer and judge who was the first Aboriginal Australian judge. He served as a judge of the District Court of New South Wales from 1996 until his death in 2005. He was the brother of Sol Bellear.
Aboriginal Medical Services Redfern, known as AMS Redfern, formerly the Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) is an Aboriginal Australian health service in the Sydney suburb of Redfern. Established around 1971, it was the first Aboriginal community-controlled health service in Australia. It became a key Indigenous Australian community organisation, from which most Aboriginal medical services around the State of New South Wales have stemmed.
Michael Riley was an Aboriginal Australian photographer and filmmaker, and co-founder of Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative. A significant figure in contemporary Indigenous Australian art, Riley's work is held by many public art institutions, including the National Gallery of Australia.
Carmine "Maggie" Munro was an Aboriginal Australian elder who lived in Moree, New South Wales. Munro was a community leader and confidante and was well known as a supporter of human rights for Aboriginal people, and is also known for founding "The Granniators", a group of elderly Aboriginal women who worked for their community.
Marlene Cummins is a jazz blues singer, saxophonist, songwriter, artist, Aboriginal Australian activist, broadcaster, dancer, and actor. Many activists consider her to be Australia's Angela Davis.
Jenny Munro is an Australian Wiradjuri elder and a prominent activist for the rights of Indigenous Australians. She has been at the forefront of the fight for Aboriginal housing at The Block in Sydney, and started the Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy. She is the sister of activists Isabel Coe and Paul Coe.
The Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy was a protest camp run by Aboriginal Australians in the inner-Sydney suburb of Redfern. Its aim is to keep an area of land known as The Block in Aboriginal hands, and to ensure the land is used solely for low-cost housing for Aboriginal people. It was started by Aboriginal elder, Jenny Munro, and was named after the original Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra.
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) is the peak representative body of Aboriginal Australians in New South Wales. It has the mandate, under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW), to develop land rights among Aboriginal people in New South Wales through its network of 120 Local Aboriginal Land Councils (LALCs). Its functions include the creation of an economic base for Aboriginal communities, as well as the continued passing and enhancement of Aboriginal culture, identity and heritage through the management of traditional sites and other cultural materials within NSW. It acts as an advisor to governments and others to ensure the preservation of Aboriginal land rights.
Solomon David Bellear was an Aboriginal Australian public figure.
The Redfern Aboriginal Children's Services, also known as Redfern Aboriginal Children's Services and Archives, or simply Aboriginal Children's Services (ACS), is a community services organisation for Indigenous Australian children in Sydney, Australia.
Lyall Munro Snr, also known as Uncle Lyall Munro Senior, was an Aboriginal Australian activist, leader, and elder, especially known for his advocacy of Indigenous land rights. He was the husband of Carmine "Maggie" Munro, and father of Lyall Munro Jnr.
Lyall Thomas Munro Jnr is an Aboriginal Australian elder, a former activist and member of many organisations serving Aboriginal Australians. He is known as a local leader in the town of Moree, New South Wales. he is the son of Lyall Munro Snr, and the husband of Jenny Munro.
...the sole surviving member of the group of eight who in 1972 were given a grant of $530,000 from the Gough Whitlam government that allowed the AHC to buy its first houses in Redfern...
The Redfern Tent Embassy is not just fighting for affordable housing, but Aboriginal autonomy and self-determination.