“There's discontent stirring on the shores of our great Sydney Harbour”
By Peter FitzSimons
Transcript:
In his first official report back to England, back in 1788, governor Arthur Phillip was quick to unveil the big news. Instead of making the settlement in poxy Botany Bay, ridden with flies and mangroves, "we had the satisfaction of finding the finest harbour in the world, in which a thousand sail of the line may ride in the most perfect security". Sydney Harbour!
It was, and remains, one of the world’s great natural jewels. This column is about the remaining public land onto which that harbour laps. For, in recent times, I have been approached by two groups with very strong concerns that this land has either already been mismanaged or is under threat. I pretend to no expertise particularly, only that they are clearly people of integrity and their concerns not only align with each other, but need airing.
"The Headland Preservation Group" is devoted to exactly that, keeping the public lands preserved for the public. Its president, Jill L'Estrange insists to me that "some of Sydney Harbour's most iconic and historically valuable locations are under increasing threat from inappropriate commercialisation with long-term partnerships with private interests, as a hushed-up government review looks to severely compromise environmental and conservation values".
Back in the '90s, see, the issue around Middle Head was what to do with Defence land no longer being used for Defence purposes. After lobbying by community groups to keep the land in the public domain, then prime minister John Howard was the Prime Mover in establishing the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust to oversee and preserve as public land such iconic sites as Cockatoo Island, Sub Base Platypus, Headland Park (Chowder Bay, Georges Heights, Middle Head), North Head and Macquarie Light Station.
The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust Act 2001 charged the trust with the restoration and rehabilitation of the built and natural environment surrounding the harbour. By and large, the trust - now led by my friend Joseph Carrozzi - appears to have done a great job. For the most part it has indeed improved public access, and restored many historic buildings.
But here is the nub of it. Funding has run out, prompting the Harbour Trust to ask the Morrison government for $200 million to $300 million to fund further works. The government has responded by ordering a review.
The Headland Preservation Group: 1) wants greater transparency from the trust on why it wants so much money, and 2) has great concerns that the review ordered by the government wants to focus on how the trust can become "self-funding".
"To achieve 'self-funding'," L'Estrange points out, "the review is looking at amending the trust act to generate further funds by private and philanthropic investment. These words seem innocuous but they open the door to vested interests who can exploit our prized, public assets."
Prima facie, I entirely agree. This way lies madness and commercial creep, which is precisely what we don’t want for remaining harbour land. On such an important issue, the Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley must answer: precisely what changes does the Government intend to make to the legislation; does the Government want an increased built environment; and do you want to water down the existing environmental and heritage protections? If so, let’s hear it, spelled out!
The second group that approached me is the Friends of Platypus, a group deeply concerned by the commercial development that has already taken place at the former submarine base at Neutral Bay.
Its president, Lorretta May, says what has happened so far is a disaster and insists: "We are up against an authority and government that has ... built a business park, massively mismanaged public waterfront land and ignored the community's needs for open space ... They said it would be a park but it is now a commercial office unit park. It is dead, soulless and no one is using the site. It is a white elephant."
You can see more of their concerns at www.friendsofplatypus.org.au.
In response to the two groups, Harbour Trust chairman Carrozzi chooses his words carefully. "I admire The Headland Preservation Group. It was people exactly like them that pressured John Howard 20 years ago into handing the land back to the public. I understand their concerns about overcommercialisation, but if it turns out the way they fear, I'll be marching with them."
As to Friends of Platypus: "I reject their concerns. We have been open and honest. That place has a great history, and we cannot raze it."
On Thursday, Carozzi's Harbour Trust released its own submission to the review, which you can read online. In order to "address the financial sustainability of the Harbour Trust" it is seeking the allocation of 49-year leases to private concerns. This prompted Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese to weigh in on Friday calling such long leases "de facto privatisation," and again, it is hard to argue.
Ideally, Ley will be able to answer some of these questions and concerns at a public forum held this Tuesday evening, at the Sydney Masonic Centre on Goulburn Street from 6pm.