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- 2 March 2006
Redfern Redevelopment
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Page: 21016
Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY (Heffron) [5.38 p.m.]: I refer to three issues related to the Redfern area. I often have spoken about Redfern Oval in this House. Today I congratulate the local community, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union with its red and green ban, the South Sydney Rabbitohs Football Club, and the Australian Labor Party and Greens councillors on the City of Sydney Council on their support. Together we have been successful in stopping the lord mayor from demolishing the oval and inserting in its place a big open field. The council now has a new proposal for Redfern Oval, which is an improvement on the lord mayor's original plan to bulldoze the oval. I understand that the current plan delivers a much better training ground and facilities for the Rabbitohs, some grandstand seating and further seating capacity on grassed areas, and the opportunity to play National Rugby League games. The field also would be available for other sporting uses, such as junior games and the Aboriginal Knock-Out rugby league matches.
I welcome that, but I am also concerned that the plan does not deliver any new active community infrastructure that the area needs. A comparison of the city of Sydney north and south of Cleveland Street still shows a stark contrast. North of Cleveland Street there are five swimming pools and indoor sports centres, including the $40 million pool that is under construction in Ultimo. The current council continues to fail the area south of Cleveland Street, areas which include some of the most disadvantaged post codes in New South Wales, by not providing access to the same level of recreational facilities. Last year the lord mayor announced a vision for Redfern with much fanfare. This year I will be keeping a close eye on the progress of that vision. Key planks, like the long- promised upgrade of Redfern Street, still remain incomplete. I will continue to champion the needs of residents south of Cleveland Street.
The House would also be aware that the South Sydney Rabbitohs intend to hold an extraordinary general meeting on 19 March to give members the opportunity to vote on a proposal by Peter Holmes a Court and Russell Crowe to privatise the South Sydney rugby league football club. I have discussed this matter on several occasions with Mr Holmes a Court. I have discussed with local residents their concerns and views about the proposal. I do not believe it is appropriate for me to advise the 4,505 members of the football club on how they should vote. I am one of those members and I will cast a vote. The criteria I will use in deciding where to direct my vote are these. First, I want the South Sydney Rabbitohs, our local team for 98 years, to continue for at least another 98 years. Second, I want the South Sydney Rabbitohs to stay in Redfern. Third, I want the South Sydney Rabbitohs to be a winning team.
The board has circulated the proposal of Mr Holmes a Court and Mr Crowe. It remains to be seen if any other proposal will come forward but I will judge any proposal by these three criteria. I remind honourable members and fans of the football club of one thing. Whilst we may not be completely happy about the council's decision on Redfern Oval, we must remember that councils come and go. Lord mayors come and go. The Rabbitohs on the other hand can survive. If our decision on 19 March is one that allows us to continue and prosper, we can outlast this council and hope to build in the future on what we have at Redfern Oval to make it a great community asset. It has been our community campaign that has saved the oval until now. Redfern Oval will remain. The question facing Rabbitoh supporters is whether our football club will remain. I believe it can, and that it can become again one of the great and most successful clubs in the NRL. That is good for fans and it is great for our local area. Go the Bunnies!
Lastly I want to comment on a article that appeared yesterday in the Sydney Morning Herald by Elizabeth Farrelly. The article was about the New South Wales Government's release of the built environment plan, which, I might add, is the third plan that the Redfern-Waterloo Authority has released to oversee the economic and social revitalisation of Redfern and Waterloo. In the article Miss Farrelly chose to describe me as the "blond and stiletto-heeled MP" bobbing in the background. Well, Miss Farrelly, I have never worn a pair of stilettos in my life. Nonetheless, I had a good laugh at your description of me. However, I wish you had told your readers a little more about the substance of the press conference, for example when you asked a question about the Block and I pointed out that, as the local member, I knew of many local Aboriginal people and groups who had concerns, or just did not support the Aboriginal Housing Company's proposal. I know you did not like hearing that answer but I note that major media outlets, such as the Daily Telegraph and the ABC, took it seriously and incorporated my response into their stories. Oh well, Elizabeth, I guess when your argument is weak, you do not play the ball, you play the man—or perhaps in your case, the shoe.
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