Friends,

I have an important update on the progress of our campaign to stop our neighbours from being made homeless.

1.       NSW State Government has agreed to join the City to purchase the boarding houses

On the evening of Wednesday November 27th, the Mayor’s office called me to confirm that the NSW State Government has agreed to join the City of Sydney to buy the Boarding Houses from the developer, and to keep our neighbours in place.

While this is a significant and hugely welcome step forward in our campaign, that purchase is dependent on 2 things:

a.       The developer agreeing to sell. So far the City’s requests to the developer to sell have gone unanswered.

b.       The developer agreeing to sell at a fair price.

The City continues to engage with the developer to seek their agreement to sell.

LFD Homes’ willingness to continue to pursue this morally and socially corrupt project in the wake of such fierce opposition from the community and government, with an option to exit on the table in front of them, symbolises pure arrogance and the contempt they have for the men and our community.

Some unwanted advice for LFD Homes: Reflect on the nature and scope of the government and community opposition to your plans to-date. Leave our neighbours alone. Let them live where they live today – in peace, safety and security. Go away. Spend your money somewhere else. You and your money are not welcome in our community.

To get us to this point, our men and our wider community wish to thank our local State Member – Alex Greenwich for his powerful advocacy and influencing, the Head of Homes NSW – Rebecca Pinkstone for her meaningful intervention and support, Minister Anoulack Chanthivong, Minister Rose Jackson’s office, City Councillors Sylvie Ellsmore, Matthew Thompson, Yvonne Weldon, Zann Maxwell and Mitch Wilson for their great support and guidance.

Our Mayor – Clover Moore and her team have been critically important in bringing the State to the table, and the men and our community are deeply grateful for their hard work.

We also wish to thank our media partners for their powerful coverage of the story of our men so far. In particular – Holly Tregenza, Keana Naughton, Sarah MacDonald, Scott Wales and Cassie McCullough (ABC TV, online, radio), Sue Williams (SMH online and print), Ben Fordham and Will Jeffries (2GB), the team at CityHub, Lizzie Bryant (9 News) and Lizzie Meryment (Paddo Papers).

2.       Delay in the Court hearing on the developer’s appeal of the Council’s original decision

Just days out from the Court hearing, the developer unexpectedly lodged new materials to support their argument around the Houses’ lack of financial viability.

This late lodgement means the Council lawyers and experts do not have sufficient time to scrutinise the documents in advance of the hearing, leaving the court no choice but to delay the case until May 2025.

The Council also secured a verbal commitment from the developer that they will keep the Houses open until such time as the matter is heard. That is yet to be confirmed in writing. As it stands today, the eviction date remains February 1, 2025 and we are working with the support services to find alternative safe and secure homes for our men, as a needed back-up plan.

We wish to thank the City’s legal team for all of their hard work to this point. The case is yet to be heard and there is much more to be done on that front.

We still have a significant amount of work to do together with the City and State to get the purchase completed, and the men kept in their homes.

3.       The petition continues to grow

Today, our petition has been:

·        Signed by 17,000+ supporters

·        Viewed by more than 200,000 people

·        Shared ~2,600 times

·        Promoted by ~480 of you

·        Funded by ~ $9,000

Our neighbours and our team thank you again for your fantastic support. We will continue to fight hard to stop LFD Homes and to keep our mates in their homes.

More to follow.

Please share this update if you can.

Best wishes,

Mike