Remembering
Trevor’s Activism
Prepared
and Delivered for the funeral service of Trevor Edward Davies Pitt St Uniting
Church June 23 2011 by Geoff Turnbull
I
come with an impossible job. I am supposed to somehow capture the story of
Trevor’s activism in Redfern. Over the last 10 days as I passed on word of
Trevor’s death I have seen many of your comments and stories. It is surprising
the number of people who say they saw Trevor in the days before he died. It was
a testimony to how many people Trevor knew and how much he did around the
community as he knitted together people’s lives in his friendship and
endeavours. This was his greatest political achievement. He created
communities, he generated discussion and he made everyone, even those he
disagreed with, matter. I had my disagreements with Trevor.
I
have known Trevor since the mid 1970’s from the days when Uniting Church
Ministers John Hirt and Vladimir Korotkov and the late housing activist Harvey
Volke were all Baptist Ministers preaching Radical Discipleship at the House of
the New World in West Ryde. It was at a time when Fred Nile ran the Jesus
Commune and the Labor party of Gough Whitlam stood for righting long term
injustice and delivering change.
When
Trevor came to Redfern with his sister he came with view that both politics and
faith mattered – they were two sides of the same coin. I was pleased to share
some of those two passions with him here at Pitt Street and South Sydney Parish
and in the activism of REDWatch’s battles like with Frank Sartor over The
Block.
Robyn
Fortescue says that “Trevor was a great believer in the people having a voice,
the right to be heard” and that “Trevor’s community activity exemplified this”.
In
the days of inner city branch stacking Sue Wicks remembers making sure Trevor
actually existed when he applied to join the local ALP branch in 1979. He went
on to become the Darlington Branch long term Secretary ensuring that the branch
dealt with real issues of community interest. He regularly invited speakers to
address the Branch. He was involved with saving the Erskineville Public Housing
estates; trying to save South Sydney Council, and raising issues elected
representatives often did not want to hear – whether it was taking on Andrew
Refshauge over drug issues around The Block or on one visit I made with him asking
Upper House President Meredith Burgmann to explain why they were allowing Frank
Sartor to attack the Pemulwuy project.
When
NSW ALP looked set to sell off state owned electricity Trevor called an
activist meeting at the AMWU building and thus was born the grass roots
campaign against the sell-off.
Many
of Trevor’s contributions to the community were outside his branch and his
church. Over the years Trevor served on the management committees of many of the
local organisation in the area such as The Settlement and South Sydney
Community Aid. He was very involved in Redfern Residents for Reconciliation who
campaigned for what became the Redfern Community Centre. At the time of his
death he was on the committee for South Sydney Community Transport and Vice
President of the St Vincent de Paul Society at Erskineville just to name two organisations
where he was carrying on this important facet of his community involvement.
Trevor
liked debate and discussion and he helped create the debate not just report it.
The “Chippo Politics” Trevor created on Saturday afternoons at the Thurless
Castle Hotel spored the “Chippo Politics newsletter”, “Road Runner”, “Chippo
News” and the “Redfern Chippo Herald” that lead to the South Sydney Herald of
today.
“Chippo
Politics” list of speakers over the years covered a very broad spectrum including
Alan Jones, Brendan Nelson, Mungo McCallum, David Oldfield, Piers Ackerman, Bob
Ellis, Richard Glover and a young ALP tyro not yet running for pre-selection
Tanya Plibersek. Topics included the history of the Eveleigh Railway,
euthanasia, council amalgamations, the future of community radio, East Timor
and progressive local government.
While
“Chippo Politics” might have ended ten years ago Trevor organised visits of
Alan Jones, John Brogden, Brendan Nelson and Barry O’Farrell to The Block to
meet Mick Mundine and the Aboriginal Housing Company. It generated debate and
articles in the South Sydney Herald and stories in the wider media. It carried
on this long Trevor tradition of generating debate and also covering it. I am
sure I was not the only one that had a mixture of excitement and foreboding
when Trevor would say “I’ve just had a good idea”.
Trevor
may have been a staunch Labor man that liked debate but I have also had the
opportunity to see him work over the last 7 years across the broader political
spectrum in REDWatch where local members of the ALP, Greens, Liberals, Clover
Moore Independents and people not associated with any party worked together to
try and ensure extensive community involvement in all decisions made about the
Redfern Waterloo area by government and the Redfern Waterloo Authority.
Remarkably
we have held REDWatch together through a long battle with a Labor government
and a number of polarising election campaigns and sometimes heated discussions
within, where Trevor would threaten to walk if he thought his branch might not
back him. Some things happened through Lyn and my independent email updates to
provide Trevor and other ALP members with plausible deniability.
My
son Alexander has had his political education informed by the multi-party
discussions and debates around our kitchen table, by attending the RWA
Legislation debate, by watching Trevor argue with MPs, by listening to planning
for the “See Redfern before Frank sells it” bus tours and candle light vigils
on The Block. My daughter Esther has worked with Trevor on the South Sydney
Herald.
In
the past few months we have been planning for the proposed redevelopment of
public housing forming a new coalition called Groundswell. We will miss Trevor
as this struggle unfolds but hopefully some of Trevor’s friends will help take
his place.
Greens
Councillor Irene Doutney, who is also on the REDWatch Co-ordination Group, talks
about Trevor not being blinded by party attitudes and of Trevor’s support for
the South Sydney Greens and their candidates like her. She says she will miss
Trevor’s regular phone calls to find out the latest gossip around Council and
his cheeky leading questions about the Greens.
Seeing
Trevor meet up with Ian Thompson, the Liberal party person involved with REDWatch
in its early years, was to watch two friends who loved politics catching up rather
than watching a clash of class enemies.
I
was catching up with Trevor in the front of Saucepan in Darlington as very many
of us did. After a succession of people passing by had stopped to talk to
Trevor I jokingly said to him that if I was ever to write an autobiography that
I would have to call it “Who’s that with Trevor?” A few minutes later a bishop
walked past and Trevor stopped him and said he had seen him around a couple of
times and wanted to know who he was and what he was doing around the place. He
was the Anglo Catholic Bishop for Australia and New Zealand who lives in Holden
Street. An interesting discussion ensured on a number of topics including the
role of women in the church and it ended with Trevor asking for his business
card and promising to be in touch.
The
encounter underlined to me why Trevor knew so many people and why so many
people knew Trevor. It showed the important role that Trevor played in knitting
the social fabric of Darlington, it bought together some of the issues Trevor
cared about politically and religiously and I suspect Trevor thought there was
an opportunity for a future debate or a South Sydney Herald article there also.
We
will all miss Trevor and the role he played in our community. If there is one
way we can help Trevor’s spirit live on it is by talking to our neighbours,
building community and remembering that the people around us really matter.
Geoffrey
Turnbull – 23 June 2011
Thanks to Robyn
Fortescue President Darlington ALP Branch, Sue Wicks the ALP Branch Secretary
before Trevor and Greens Councillor Irene Doutney for the use of their memories
of Trevor.
Reproduced in www.southsydneyherald.com.au – July (PDF 2.9MB PDF)