Grey Spots in the Stifling Heat

This is a story I wrote for our local rag the South Sydney Herald, due out about now.

The older I get the more I resent paying taxes; and this case, where the government has just run roughshod over everyone in the local area, is a classic example of why. They say they are responding to community concerns, when in reality they are doing nothing of the kind. We pay a fortune in taxes and we the people get nothing for it. I think governments should return to nuts and bolts; trains that run on time, hospitals that work, politicians that respond to people's concerns, courts that dispense prompt and efficient justice. Instead about all we ever get is rubbish from grotesquely overpaid bureaucrats and politically correct idiots who do more harm than good. Our suburb is a classic example of the harm they cause, with a small group of drunks and addicts holding the whole place to ransom while the lovies bleat on about the poor and disadvantaged. If they didn't drink so much or weren't so chronically addicted maybe they wouldn't be so disadvantaged! Maybe a bit of tough love might be the solution. Maybe they should go to a detox like half the rest of Sydney has had to do over the years. I've run out of painkillers and the cracked rib is making me feel very creaky and groany and cranky, so that's enough of a rant today.



Here's the story:





RESIDENTS, homeowners, police, shopkeepers and the aboriginal community of Lawson Street and the immediate surrounds have slammed the Carr Government’s determination to place an unwanted $1.5 million drug, alcohol and needle exchange service in a residential area to replace the Redfern’s old "needle bus". News, via an announcement from the Premier Bob Carr, that the old Alleena Centre at the top of the street near Redfern Station will become a needle exchange came as a shock to residents, who had not been consulted on the move, and has been met with hostility from almost everyone with a stake in the future of the area.



Half a dozen families with young children live within 50 metres of the front door of the planned centre. One of the chief criticisms of the needle bus was its location close to a park where children played. Organisations to come out against the Lawson Street proposal include the Aboriginal Medical Service, the Aboriginal Housing Company and the Police Association. Community group REDWatch has criticised the complete lack of consultation. Residents on the street have formed the Lawson Street Action Group and circulated a widely supported petition calling on the NSW government to abandon the scheme.



Sydney Lord Mayer Clover Moore said it was unfortunate "there was no consultation about location and that key Aboriginal organisations such as Aboriginal medical service and Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council" did not feel part of the process.

But it is not just the aboriginal community that was not consulted. What is remarkable about the blanket opposition to the proposal is that this is one of the most leftwing precincts in Australia, where support for harm minimization drug policies is strong.



The Carr government is already showing signs of ducking for cover on the issue. A spokeswoman for Frank Sartor, responsible for the Redfern Waterloo Authority, could offer no explanation as to why the street’s residents, aboriginal health services and the police had not been consulted. Although the issue clearly concerns child welfare a spokeswoman for the Minister for Community Services Carmel Tebutt claimed it was not her responsibility and refused to comment on whether placing a needle exchange next to young children was appropriate.

In a glossy brochure distributed to households in the area the government claimed the new community health facility would assist in responding to needs identified in the Interim Report on the Inquiry into Issues relating to Redfern-Waterloo and the Report on the Review of Human Services in Redfern and Waterloo. Both reports noted the need for detoxification and other drug and alcohol related services in the area. Neither report recommended the creation of a facility in Lawson Street. The Interim Report is clear in recommending that the Needle Exchange Bus be placed "away from the residential area to a nearby industrial area.



The brochure said the service would include "treatment and care of drug related injuries, provision of sterile injecting equipment, drug and alcohol assessments and referrals" and specialist services would include "mental health and sexual health services" and HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis screening. The facility is scheduled for completion by the middle of 2005 and will cost $1.5 million to establish and $550,000 annually. Bizarrely, the brochure also claimed it would provide antenatal and post natal care, although there are no examples of any centre in Australia which successfully combines a needle exchange service with general health services for pregnant women or young babies.



Ignoring local anger over the centre, Bob Carr said the area was a known haven for drug dealers and users. "It will deliver a range of health services to this disadvantaged area," Mr Carr said. "Our goal is to clean up the area to see that it functions better.’’

The Premier’s office, when asked by the South Sydney Herald if the Premier personally condoned placed a needle exchange next door to where children are living, responded that the NSW government is "committed to providing health care services for the entire community." When asked if the Premier was personally aware that children were living next door to the proposed methadone clinic and needle exchange his office sidestepped the question and responded that the state government was proposing to establish a "community health facility in Lawson Street that will provide primary health care services for the entire community. This includes access to medical services, nurses health care workers and health education workers. Needle and syringe provision will be only one aspect of the health care services provided."

The Premier’s office went on to claim that in establishing the "health centre" they were responding to needs identified in various inquiries that there was a "high incidence of co-existing drug and alcohol and mental health issues in key population groups", people with mental health problems and "young people with high unemployment levels and drug and alcohol issues". These issues do not exist amongst the actual residents on Lawson Street. Most of the people who live on the street are fully employed and own their own homes or are students renting accommodation close to Sydney University.



Local police described the plan to replace the Block’s needle van at The Block with a needle exchange in the residential heart of Redfern as "madness". "Where you have a needle exchange, you get heroin addicts, and where you get heroin addicts, you get an increase in crime," Constable Paul Huxtable said. "That is the simple reality of the situation. It's madness. It just doesn't seem sensible at all and it flies in the face of the government inquiry which said it should be built at the northern end of Redfern in an industrial area."



In a letter to the Premier Dr Naomi Watts, Chief Executive of Redfern’s Aboriginal Medical Service, now housed in a spanking new centre nearby, said no one consulted with them or any other aboriginal run organisation. "To say that I am livid with rage would be an understatement. And let me tell you I am not alone. There is universal anger amongst all the local Aboriginal agencies. Once again we have a perfect example of a government riding roughshod over agreed policy and established procedure. I sincerely hope that you will reconsider your proposal and that your government will honour the terms of the Aboriginal Partnership Agreement so that we can sensibly progress the important issues in relation to drug and alcohol problems locally."

Chief Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Housing Company Mick Mundine said: "Get rid of it. We don’t want it." He dismissed the claims that the centre would provide postnatal care for young mothers as nonsense: "You can’t have children mixed up with giving out needles. It is sending the message there are still drugs on the block. No one is going to take their children to a needle exchange. No one wants it here. You are bringing junkies right on to Lawson Street when we are trying to get drugs out of the area. We have all had enough."

Craig Ketnell, who lives literally next door to the proposed Centre with his pregnant wife and young daughter, has formed the Lawson Street Action Group. "This is not a harm minimisation debate, it is about the location of a centre which will bring hundreds upon hundreds of people with serious mental health and addiction problems on to our doorsteps," he said. "In this state you cannot build a brothel next door to where children are living, so how can you build a needle exchange and methadone clinic?"



The petition he has organised to be presented to Bob Carr has received almost universal support.

"In conjunction with the aboriginal community a lot of good has been done in this area in minimising the drug problem since the riots early this year," he said. "The government is already acting as if this insane idea is an accomplished fact. None of the politicians making these decisions would choose to live with their children next door to a methadone clinic or needle exchange, not one of them. This is a serious threat to the safety of our kids."