(Image: Sydney Alliance NSW State Election Assembly, February 28th, Westmead. You can read more about the Assembly on the Sydney Alliance website here)
When Simon Hansford jumped forward to the microphone to give the shout-out for the Uniting Church and we all leapt to our feet on cue, the entire auditorium applauded – but they gasped as well. Why? And how did we happen to be there anyway?
As part of the diverse coalition that makes up the Sydney Alliance, over 900 church, mosque and temple leaders, union, charity and not-for-profit representatives, researchers, and other community members from across Sydney met with NSW Treasurer Mr. Matt Kean, NSW Shadow Treasurer Mr. Daniel Mookhey and NSW Greens Spokesperson on Housing, Ms Jenny Leong, last Tuesday 28th February to seek commitments on issues of housing, cost of living, energy and renters, including the removal of no grounds eviction in NSW.
Both major parties have committed to end ‘no grounds’ evictions during periodic tenancies, following announcements from Coalition leader Dominic Perrotett and Labour leader Chris Minns.
The Uniting Church is a key member of the Alliance to make Sydney a more just, fair and sustainable city; our congregation has been involved for for several years with the Sutherland chapter, working to improve the local affordable rental housing scene. On Tuesday night, some of us travelled to Westmead along with members of Gymea-Miranda Uniting Church, Sutherland Vinnies, and Menai Holy Family Catholic Church, to support this city-wide push for serious commitments ahead of the upcoming election.
Although it was a bit of a trek to this school hall in Westmead, the Sydney Alliance team have been very generous in supporting the Sutherland chapter’s work with Sutherland council and in other areas, and have always sent people to help us at those community events we’ve held in Engadine. So we cheerfully went along, and I’m so glad I did!
It was just amazing to see so many people, superbly organised into their groups, decked out in their org t-shirts (like us), uniforms (eg. nurses), cultural dress (eg. Pacific Islander, Peruvian) and religious wear (prayer shawls, stoles, clerical collars, turbans) – and everyone was there for the same purpose. Thanks to the well-communicated (long!) campaign and the excellent briefing notes for this evening, this particular part of the whole campaign, we were all united in the same understanding and approach to the politicians who would be joining us: engaged citizenry and courteous accountability.
An important part of the assembly is the roll-call, where each of the member groups are named, stand up, and applauded. For the dozens of member groups who were present, a rapid-fire tag-team of leaders up on the stage stepped up to the microphone, called out their group and gave a top-line shout-out for the issue of the evening. As rehearsed, each group leapt to their feet and we all clapped (no more than four seconds per group! or we’d be there all night) but the sheer numbers of people in black Uniting Church or maroon Uniting (Care) t-shirts caused an intake of breath across the crowd as they could see the commitment from the people of the church. I felt very proud to be part of the group, and simultaneously very humbled at all the incredible work done by so many people for so long.
Why renting issues? Six months ago, hundreds of leaders of groups that make up the Sydney Alliance decided together that the 2023 NSW election would be the “renter’s election”, and set about an organising and media campaign to see that happen (for more info about how agreements are reached, read here). The team at the Tenants’ Union of NSW have specialist knowledge in this area and have led this work within the Alliance for over a decade. This week is a victory for organised, persistent, consistent action for the common good.
What an almighty effort across Sydney, and what an effort by the church in committing money (a significant member contribution towards the shoestring running costs of the Alliance), time (of staff, clergy, and other church leaders) and the church brand – being willing to be publicly identified with this collaborative community effort which is not about growing our own congregations or coffers but working with (not for) communities who find themselves marginalised and left out of Sydney’s wealth.
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