I find it hard to get my head around a run down area of such historic significance where successive Labor governments just let it fall to pieces. It was either gross neglect or a carefully crafted strategy to get the area to a stage where sale of the properties was the only option.

I equally find it hard that to understand that multi million dollar terraces and housing have been passed down to children ahead of the 57,000 thousand in public housing queues that have to take anything on offer.

Millers Point is indeed an area of contradiction.

We can’t the maths. The sell off of the some 300 houses will produce at least half a billion in capital and reduce recurring maintenance expenses by an accelerating $7M per annum.

Rough maths suggests that for every Millers Point house sold 4-5 will be able to built to house one of those families on the horrid public housing queue.

It’s worth noting the NSW Auditor General’s Report to Parliament as an explanation why we have a queue of 57,000 and why it’s necessary to take drastic action to house people. The graph shows that in the Labor years in the increase in the number of social housing dwellings flatlined. This combined with the Labor neglect of Millers Point has made the sell off Labor initiated virtually impossible to turn back.

This is a very noble Lord Mayor Minute in an area but the Council shouldn’t be funding community groups to fight the State Government.