While it may be Ben Spies-Butcher’s frst nomination as a
candidate for a State district, his experience and qualifications suggest his
nomination for the seat of Heffron is an evolutionary and ethereal step.
Born in Redfern to a father who was a former Catholic
priest, Spies-Butcher’s family engendered him with a strong sense of social
and environmental justice in the community.
Ben soon joined the Greens party and then co-founded
community advocacy group REDWatch in response to the State Government’s actions
in the Redfern Waterloo area.
In the past year Ben has acted as Secretary for REDWatch, in
addition to his lecturing role at Macquarie
University, and his research roles for
Sydney University and the Edmund Rice Centre.
He has also completed a PhD in Economics.
The move into nomination for Heffron was a response to Spier
Butcher’s growing consternation about the Labor’s party’s actions in Heffron
and at a State level.
He lists the Port Botany, Metro Strategy and Redfern
Waterloo developments in Heffron as three major areas for local concern.
The State Government approved a staged expansion of Port
Botany last year. Spies-Butcher closely followed the development approval, including
the Committee of Inquiry, and says the expansion will create an extra 2,000
trucks on suburban roads around the clock.
“I am still struggling to understand why it’s a good idea,”
Spies-Butcher contemplates. “Newcastle and Wollongong are crying out
for more freight yet the State Government wants to create more traffic for a
community that already has far too many trucks driving through the middle of
it.”
“The State Government has moved backwards on basics, such as
building energy efficiencies and the opening of coal fired power stations. It’s
unacceptable.”
On the State Government’s Metro Strategy Ben accepts urban
consolidation as a short term solution but said he is not pleased with the
scale of development and the lack of public infrastructure.
“There is currently a development before Council which will
see 5,000 people, the size of a small country town, move into an area that
borders Waterloo and Alexandria,” explains Ben. “This is without
any meaningful investment in public transport facilities and sustainable
development policies.”
Spies-Butcher believes excessive development can be partly
attributed to developers being allowed to donate to political parties.
“Developer donations must be out of politics. It’s not transferable, it’s not
accountable, it’s not democratic,” argued Ben. “Current plans suggest to me the
Government’s priority is about making money out of developments and squishing
in as many people as they can.”
Public housing is a key issue for the Heffron district given
the Government is seeking to scale back its offering of welfare housing to only
those with ‘high needs’.
“As an economist I can say public housing is the most
efficient way of establishing affordable housing, which will be essential to
buffer the inevitable gentrification of the area,” explains Spies-Butcher.
Climate change is another key talking point.
“So much of what needs to happen to address climate change
are State issues, not Federal,” asserts Ben. “The State Government has moved
backwards on basics, such as building energy efficiencies and the opening of
coal fred power stations. It’s unacceptable.”
The Heffron district has been a Labor stronghold since 1991
with the Greens recording one of their best performances in 2003, counting 12.7
% of the vote.
On his strategy for the entrenched ALP voters in the Heffron
district Spies-Butcher said: “There’s more than enough to hold the Government
to account on”.
Source: South Sydney Herald December 2006
[REDWatch note Originally this article incorrectly referred to Ben Spiers Butcher rather than Ben Spies-Butcher. The name has been corrected for ease of searching]