Cranky Franky Meets His Waterloo

What had initially appeared to be a minor spot fire for Minister for Redfern-Waterloo Frank Sartor has now proven to be a blazing row. Sartor, whose control of the controversial portfolio has been vexed from the start, has now told an Estimates hearing that he `never wanted the job in the first place'. Meanwhile, the Aboriginal Housing Company, whose vision for the iconic Aboriginal precinct "The Block" Sartor has consistently opposed, are intensifying their push for Sartor's sacking from the portfolio. It ain't pretty.

The approach on the Opposition side has been quite startling. You will remember that at the time of the Redfern riots which (ostensibly) sparked the formation of the Redfern Waterloo Authority over which Sartor presides, then-Opposition Leader John Brogden deemed the only solution for The Block to be bulldozing the entire area. Instead, Peter Debnam has named himself Shadow Minister for Redfern Waterloo and committed to retaining Aboriginal housing at The Block - something Sartor has had trouble doing. This is a major turnaround on the Opposition's part. It remains to be seen, however, whether Debnam's position on the highly contentious needle exchange centre at Redfern will prove as intractable as his convinction to close down the Kings Cross injecting room.

Details here