10 years ago today
Reflecting on a decade of organising for the common good in Sydney
By David Barrow, Lead Organiser
Ten years ago today, the people of Sydney made a promise to the city, embodied in an organisation dedicated to the common good.
We came in our uniforms, headscarves and T-shirts of every colour. Of every faith and fashion. We travelled from Cowan, Cabramatta, Campbelltown or Katoomba. We entered under the glistening chandelier of Sydney’s august town hall, a symbol of democracy, and colonial wealth.
The Alliance was, and is, an organisation that houses a network of relationships; arteries of trust forged through thousands of face-to-face individual meetings.
The Sydney Alliance Founding Assembly on September 15th 2011 was one for the history books. Our story lives in the hearts and memory of the 2500 people who were present that night; and is told by the actions of over 5500 civic leaders trained in community organising since.
We put aside our differences to make a difference for our community. We want a fair, just and sustainable city – and we are willing to organise consistently, persistently and boldly to build it.
We are not used to trusting eachother across our differences so we need to build a deep hull of relational trust that will enable us to remain together when we contest the status quo and when those in power will seek to divide us. We will organise our money and fund a permanent Alliance. We will not be naive about politics, we will remain firmly rooted in the world as it is, and seek the world as it should be. We imagine the world as it could be.
The roots of this organisation, launched with the songs of choirs and the waving of union flags, started in many places. In the reaction to the Cronulla riots, the experience of the Your Rights at Work Campaign, the desire by people of faith to be responsive to their communities and the experience of communities being ignored or pushed aside by vested interests.
The architect and head weaver of this vision was the founding organiser Dr Amanda Tattersall, who led a team of professional community organisers, of whom I at the time was the most junior, to help the organisations realise their collective vision.
The Founding was a turning point for the organisation, which over the next decade has had its fair share of bumps. The Alliance has made mistakes; and notably, been public about them. There is much work to be done, particularly in walking with First Nations.
In the last decade, the Alliance pushed the NSW Government to welcome people seeking asylum with concession travel, access to TAFE and local council heroes have opened up early childhood education and care places for over 30 children. We launched a new passenger standard for public transport, 400:15:1 SCA2, and won station upgrades and opal fare reductions for pensioners. Hundreds of affordable homes planned and major initiatives on affordable energy in the pipeline. Indigenous apprenticeships at Harold Park and fee-free car parking at hospitals. $36M in emergency funds for those excluded by Job Keeper and Job Seeker. Hundreds of people have won their local challenges using the tools and relationships formed in the Alliance.
Concrete wins, won by coordinated, persistent efforts of everyday people coming together for the common good.
Perhaps more powerfully than these wins, have been the moments when the city itself has been tested, and the Alliance has regrouped itself and responded in its full diversity; after racist attacks in 2013, the Martin Place siege, the Christchurch tragedy, the bushfires and now the pandemic.
The issues have come and gone, as have the Prime Ministers and Premiers, but over the last decade, Alliance leaders have stuck together.
Sometimes in organisational life, we feel dwarfed by the promise of our organisation’s mission. As we reflect on ten years let us remember all that we have achieved adds up, as is often the case with small and humble shifts. The achievement is cumulative.
At ten we also take a moment to remember some of the dynamic leaders who help grow the Alliance in their time; Elizabeth Ban, Fr John Pierce, Azra Ahmed, Allan West, Irene Carder, Jeremy Spinak and Lina Cabaero. Each had a part of building this shared legacy that will outlive us all. At ten, we celebrate as our sister organisations formed – the Queensland Community Alliance and Hunter Community Alliance.
The Alliance continually renews itself. Right now, we are working together for an equitable pandemic response, intake for Afghan refugees, justice for international students, the Uluru statement, affordable homes, transport, affordable energy and a liveable climate for all.
The promise to the city is that we strive and we do it together. And you are invited.
Onward.
The Sydney Alliance looks forward to celebrating its ten year anniversary together when we can gather safety.