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The Place The People

INTRODUCTION

Millers Point is an isolated community. It has been this way since the 1820s when it was home to the Colony’s maritime trade. Throughout the nineteenth century it developed into a lively and chaotic collection of wharves, ship building, repair and maintenance shops, warehouses and bond stores. Millers Point was home to the working harbour and to traders, sailors, wharf owners, waterside workers and their families. Read more about the history of this area in the introduction or see Millers Point in…

1788 … 1833 … 1840s … 1865 … 1900s … 1930s … 1970s … 2014

THE PLACE

The windmills of Millers Point and the rocky outcrops of The Rocks were the landmarks after which these suburbs were named. Streets such as Hart Street and Princes Street are long gone, but others like Windmill and Lower Fort Streets survive, and some like High Street were created as the landscape was reshaped early last century. For stories of the streets of Millers Point, Dawes Point and The Rocks, and the story of Sirius go to THE PLACE.

THE PEOPLE

Prior to the Displacement that began in 2014, many familes had lived for generations in Millers Point, Dawes Point and The Rocks. Read their stories in THE PEOPLE.

SIRIUS

The SIRIUS section records the story of a remarkable building and its residents, a story of survival against the odds and the final piece in a campaign to save a community in Millers Point.

Sirius was built following the 1970s Green Bans, built for the residents of The Rocks and Millers Point, and recommended for by the Heritage Council for State Heritage Listing. In 2016, the government refused the Heritage Listing for Sirius, a Green Ban was placed on it, and the government renewed its efforts to force out its remaining tenants.

The Save Our Sirius Foundation campaigns to save Sirius, the apartments built for the community that saved The Rocks from demolition in the 1970s. Its website launched in 2016, followed soon after by social media pages and then the Sirius book in late 2017.

NEWS

The situation changes constantly in Millers Point. For the latest news, see NEWS and the SAVE MILLERS POINT and SAVE OUR SIRIUS Facebook pages.

CONTACT

This is where to find contact information for the Millers Point Resident Action Group, the Friends of Millers Point and the Sirius Foundation. Contributors to this site are welcome. Comment on stories that interest you, or contact us via the following links for more information, or to submit longer articles or photos.  Most content on this site by John Dunn. Other writers include Kelli Haynes, Grace Karskens, Margaret Bishop, Robert Mowbray and Shirley Fitzgerald. In most cases, readers are welcome to use and share information on this site in line with our terms of use.

 

 

News from Millers Point…

 

Millers Point Mothers

This mothers day we honour Millers Point mothers, whether they have kids of their own or mother in other ways, especially those taken from us. Your gift to this community was and remains immeasurable. This place is part of your legacy and we will always make you welcome.  You will find stories of some of […]

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Sirius farewells Myra

Hundreds of supporters said farewell to Myra on Saturday. For months she has been the only resident of Sirius, and even though she is forced to leave she will continue to campaign for social and affordable housing in the city. She asks, ‘Are we to be the only major city in the world without public […]

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The Hungry Mile

For anyone who saw it, a highlight of the 2000 Olympics cultural program was the performance by Legs on the Wall abseiling down the side of the AMP Building to create an aerial performance about refugees and migration. In 2018 they will present a new work based on the Hungry Mile and Millers Point. They […]

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The Secret Singer

Joanna Weinberg writes about her new project, The Secret Singer… Some of you may know that I run a community choir in Millers Point in Sydney. One of my stalwart choristers, a woman who had great difficulty walking and also singing, asked me for lessons. Over the course of a year, I taught her every […]

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Nita McCrae remembered

Nita McCrae was a community leader who forty years ago helped save a community and a heritage precinct. The Rocks and Millers Point would have been vastly different places without Nita’s intervention. Yesterday a proposal came before the City of Sydney Council to name the new park in Argyle Street after Nita. Council voted unanimously […]

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Government moves to evict residents

The NSW Government is moving to evict the remaining residents of Sirius and Millers Point and tie up sales of its properties. Robert Mowbray from the Tenants Union provides the following update… The NSW Government’s cannibalisation of public housing in Millers Point continues. As at 11 July 2017, there have been 151 sales, some of […]

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