Sydney Alliance 2019

THE YEAR IN NUMBERS & PICTURES John, thank you for being along for the journey in 2019. We hope these images of some of our highlights of the year offer a short distraction from today's heat and ash!   "Get it done!" 1901 assembly participants call for affordable housing & energy ahead of March NSW Election. "Arriving... and being applauded! That is monumental for our community" 152 Sikh leaders from the Glenwood Gurdwara enter their first Alliance Assembly to cheers and applause.  "Its a yes". Don Harwin, NSW Energy Minister joins 9 Politicians of all parties; LIB, LAB, GRN, CDP & IND, in negotiations for a better Sydney. "This is... not what I expected."Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor summarises his meeting with 5 leaders of Voices For Power about a Community Energy Hub in Western Sydney. "It's so different, hearing it direct. It made me grateful and empathetic." 9300 Sydneysiders have participated in  ‘Changing the Conversation’ to date; hearing directly from a person seeking refuge or asylum. 1118 of those in 2019.  "Making this commitment is one of the proudest moments of my life... Thank you to Sydney Alliance for this campaign" Karl Asfour, Mayor of Canterbury-Bankstown commits to 9 Early Childhood Education places in Bankstown Preschools, to be made available for children of people seeking asylum. By year's end a total of 15 Childcare Centres & Preschools have joined the program, including private providers and Catholic Early Education. More to do in 2020! Photo Credit: Danish Ravi.   "It takes organised people to overcome violence. Muslims in Christchurch, Catholics in Sri Lanka and Jews in La Halle and San Diego, we all bleed red. We must strive to make Sydney different" 305 Sydneysiders gathered throughout the year for “The Power of Love”. Building long term, honest and frank relationships across the city’s diversity in the wake of the terrible attacks in 2019. "Sure, they are dense reading, dull as sawdust. But jeez those submissions makes a difference" 155 Sydneysiders fought, planning jargon and tight timeframes to supporting Affordable Housing in submissions to Local-Strategic-Planning-Statements (LSPS). 30 of 33 of Sydney's local councils were targeted. Hundreds of affordable homes will be made available, thanks to your action this year. "I will tell my children - do your power analysis in the playground!" 195 Leaders trained in community organising in 2019. New skills, new power, new leaders ready for action in 2020.   "I felt something had changed within me. I felt like I was a different person. I had grown, matured, aged in some way and was no longer the boy I was merely 24 hours ago" Raul sharing his journey as one of 11 graduating interns in 2019. They join 161 Alumni of the Sydney Alliance Interns program. "Changing the world starts in our own backyards. In Plumpton, Turella, Drummoyne, Greenacre, Cronulla and Pymble..." 247 Postcodes in the Sydney Basin. Your postcode needs you! CALL TO ACTION: In 2020 the Alliance is supporting local leaders like you to listen, discern and act in their own postcodes. If you are keen to be part of "Postcode2020" reply to find out more in the new year! Or support this work with a donation. For the common good of Sydney, David Barrow http://www.sydneyalliance.org.au/

Sydney Alliance Widens Membership

Good news - we’ve made it much easier for smaller-medium sized organisations and individuals to join the Sydney Alliance. The Alliance is growing. If you've been considering stepping up as an individual or joining up your organisation to the Alliance, now is a great time to be part of the efforts for the common good.  We are stronger together, whether on- Work - protecting our weekends and public holidays, Power - affordable & renewable energy, Homes - affordable & stable housing, Heart - a city that welcomes people seeking refuge and welcome. Or on hundreds of local issues across Sydney. In fact, the Alliance is preparing Postcode2020, a people-powered listening campaign, across hundreds of Sydney's postcodes next year. You can be part of it! If you're interested in how you, or your community group, church, union, mosque, synagogue, temple, organisation or school can join up let's get a coffee. Email me on dbarrow@sydneyalliance.org.au You can find out more about joining up here. Yours, David Barrow Lead Organiser http://www.sydneyalliance.org.au/

Sydney Alliance · 4 Goulburn St, Level 2, Suite 209, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia This email was sent to mountdruitt_cig@hotmail.com. To stop receiving emails, click here.

Sydney Alliance Reflection......

It’s fair to say that across the diversity of the Sydney Alliance there are a range of reactions to Saturday’s election results.  

You’re invited to join us in a reflection on the results this Monday 27^th 6:30pm-8:30pm at 222 Pitt St. Registration essential 

The Alliance brings together a massive plurality of Sydney and like in many communities, folks made different choices along the whole spectrum of political candidates.
Elections are times of division for families, communities and cities.
The Alliance is committed to finding common ground across our diversity and taking action together.

The NSW and Fed elections raise a series of questions for all of us committed to the agenda of the common good.  

Next Monday all are welcome to join us:

• Share your experience of the election & what it meant for you
• Discuss what steps are needed to build the public relationships between those who voted different ways
• Air and discern what next steps look like on the Alliance agenda:affordable housing, affordable & renewable energy, precarious work & weekends and being a city of welcome for people seeking asylum and refuge.
• What questions do we need to be able to answer to be successful over the coming years?

Monday 27^th 6:30pm-8:30pmUniting Office, level 4, 222 Pitt St, CBD.Registration essentialChaired by Anita Tang, Friends of the Sydney Alliance

Here are some of the questions raised already in discussions:

On politics in Sydney-

1. Why are those voting for conservative parties reluctant or ashamed to say so? What does that say about the breakdown of trust in our civil discourse?
2. What does this result teach us about how we build common ground with those whom we disagree? In our families, our organisations, our suburbs and city?
3. The least engaged are often the most decisive. What does that mean for your Alliance and organisation and its ability to influence politics?
4. What does action look like outside of the NSW & Fed election period, perhaps with a focus on cooperative power, business or local government?
5. Tens of thousands of Sydneysiders voted for One Nation and similar parties. How does an Alliance as diverse as it is, engage sincerely with those who voted One Nation and those elected by them?

On the Alliance Agenda for the Common Good-

The issues on the 2018-2019 Alliance Agenda of the Common Good are the product of thousands of Sydneysiders sharing the pressures on their lives. What could the results mean for:

1. Access to renewable and affordable energy? The NSW government made some commitments and the market is creating opportunities every day.
2. Weekends and public holidays? Given the results, what will it take to win, to protect what we have and gain ground? Especially given a penalty rate cut expected from the Fair Work Commission later in the year.
3. Affordable and public housing?
4. The hundreds of families in Sydney seeking refuge?

Let’s discern it together.

Monday 27^th 6:30pm-8:30pm, 222 Pitt St, CBD. Register

David Barrow
Lead Organiser
Sydney Alliance

PS. If you are in Parramatta this evening Tuesday 21st, join the Sydney Alliance and the Community Migrant Resource Centre for Site of Solace, a vigil of solidarity, Unity and support and Sydney's Sri Lankan community following the Easter bombings last month. 5pm-6:30pm Centenary Square, Parramatta .

Sydney Alliance
http://www.sydneyalliance.org.au/

Sydney Alliance Closer To Affordable Housing

With a Town Hall assembly just days away, it’s possible you missed it: the NSW Government has extended State Environmental Planning Policy No. 70 (SEPP 70) to all Local Government Areas. It’s a welcome change that we have pushed for together, and it removes an important barrier to Councils mandating affordable housing targets for new developments in their local government areas.

How did we win? Local power, and relentlessness.

In June last year, at our Going Local campaign training, 60 leaders set their sights on extending SEPP 70 as the next critical step in our housing campaign. It was a challenging task: building power to change an obscure planning mechanism. But local citizens, including members of the St Vincent de Paul Society, and other diverse communities, embraced the task of pushing local councils across Sydney to demand access to SEPP 70.

They met with Councillors and addressed their meetings. They hosted local housing forums across our suburbs, packing out halls in each corner of our city. They brought hundreds of people out of their homes to champion inclusionary zoning as a way through our housing crisis.

On the eve of our next big action, the Housing and Energy Assembly at Sydney Town Hall, the SEPP70 decision is a sign of what we can do together.

Onwards!

The Sydney Alliance Housing Team

P.S. Read the Sydney Alliance’s official response to this change here.

Sydney Alliance
http://www.sydneyalliance.org.au/

Sydney Alliance Review of 2018

2018 was a stellar year for the Sydney Alliance!
Building power with hundreds of Sydneysiders from all walks of life, bringing diversity together for the common good of all.

In 2018 in numbers & pictures…

248: Alumni graduated Foundations Training, Apprenticeships or Advanced & Master Class Training in Community Organising!

6: New organisations joined the Sydney Alliance in 2018.
Sydney Policy Lab, Tenants Union NSW, Shelter NSW, Nature Conservation Council, Jesuit Refugee Services & Australian National Imam’s Council!

HOMES…

611: local leaders attended forums on affordable housing & fair rentals in Penrith, Parramatta, Ryde and Hornsby!

21: Local Councils progressed affordable housing policies following actions of the Sydney Alliance across the city.
6: number of local councils that this year are now able to access “SEPP 70” to raise developer contributions for affordable housing - WON by Sydney Alliance!

48337: number of people waiting for affordable housing in NSW as of 30 June 2018

More to do in 2019....

HEART…

3500: People heard a story directly from a Sydneysider with direct experience of seeking asylum.
15: number of new Sydneysiders with lived experience of seeking asylum trained to share their personal stories.
45: active members of People seeking Asylum Team from 17 diverse civil society organisations.

400: Number of children under 5, of parents seeking asylum, with no access to childcare.
12: Month trial of low-cost access to Bankstown Council Childcare Centres – WON by Sydney Alliance.

More to do in 2019...

POWER…

 

 

554: Migrant Community Leaders took part in Table Talks on the issue of affordable & renewable energy across Sydney.
7: Sydney communities united to tackle affordable & renewable energy Muslim, Jewish, Middle-East Christian, South Asian, Vietnamese, Filipino and Pacifica.

7: Items on the roadmap for affordable & renewable energy 1. Funding a solar garden for Western Sydney.  2. Fixing energy rebates and 3. vouchers or affordable power. 4. Tackling split incentives for solar between landlords and renters. 5. Minimum standards for new rental properties. 6. Energy audits & upgrades for low-income communities. 7. Energy audits for public & community housing.

Campaigning to win in 2019...

YOUR CITY…

 

2: Number of major elections in 2019. NSW Election in March and Federal Election likely in May.
714/2000: number of seats already filled for March 14^th Assembly in Town Hall on housing, rent, energy! Register now!

BE PART…

$21’000: Money raised by Friends of the Sydney Alliance in 2019.

$25: average monthly donation to the Sydney Alliance from Friends. Become a monthly donor to support community organising in action in 2019. Your small regular donation can expand the power building work of the Sydney Alliance into the new year!

DONATE FOR 2019

Register now!: for the March 14^th Assembly at Sydney Town Hall on affordable housing, fair rentals and affordable & renewable energy for NSW!

2019: For the Common Good!

Sydney Alliance
http://www.sydneyalliance.org.au/

Sydney Alliance - Housing & Energy Assembly

Help us reach 1000 registrations by Dec 30th to get decision makers in the room. Let’s win on housing and energy.  

Sydney has been a sweaty humid mess this week, but holidays are around the corner!
Before you log off and tune out for Summer – please register for the Housing + Energy Assembly on March 14^th at Sydney Town Hall.

Change is made by people who show up. 

Housing + Energy Assembly
Thursday 6-9pm March 14^th
Sydney Town Hall, Register
Presented by Everybody's Home, Vinnies NSW and Sydney Alliance.

What’s on the agenda?

• Affordable Housing
• Rental reform
• Affordable & renewable energy

Who is invited?

• You + 2000 Sydneysiders and allies from across NSW
• NSW Government, Premier
• NSW Opposition, Leader of the Opposition
• Key NSW Minor parties
• Federal Government Representative
• Federal Opposition Representative

What do we want?

• Concrete commitments
• Accountable politicians
• Active citizens

Why do you need me to register so early? 
A full house is alluring to politicians.
We get one day every four years where people power counts more than money.
So far, the NSW Premier has not yet committed to speaking at the assembly.
If 800-1000 people have registered to attend four months out, it sends a powerful signal to elected officials about the depth of collective commitment to fixing the housing crisis.

How many are coming so far?
554 seats are registered. 446 To go before Dec 30th.   

What do I do?
If you haven’t yet, register your name, contact details and organisation details here.
If you have, please pass this email on to someone asking them to join you!

Click here to Register

Questions? Feel free to send me an email.

Have a safe, joyful and abundant holiday and see you in 2019!

For a better Sydney,

David Barrow
http://www.sydneyalliance.org.au/

Housing & Energy Assembly - 14th March 2019 - Sydney Alliance

Save the Date: Housing and Energy Assembly
Sydney Town Hall
Thursday 14 March 2019
6:30pm for 7pm start, concluding at 8:30pm

In 2019, NSW will see one, likely two, elections. For civil society, this is an opportunity to call politicians to action on things that matter to our communities.

On 14 March 2019, the Sydney Alliance will return to Sydney Town Hall to pursue an agenda for affordable, secure housing, and clean and affordable energy. This action will bring together more than 2000 people from across formidable partners:

• The Sydney Alliance, with its campaigns around housing and energy (Voices for Power)
• NSW Vinnies
• Everybody's Home, the national campaign to fix Australia's housing system

An assembly like this is unique chance to experience the power of Sydney's civil society, and to stand for the kind of city and country that we want to live in. There will be incredible diversity, moving stories, concrete proposals and short, sharp contributions from elected officials, including commitments that can be measured post-election.

So, set this time aside in your diary for 2019, and start talking to your community about being part of the action. Online registrations are open now - click here to add your details and receive further info.

Sydney Alliance
http://www.sydneyalliance.org.au/