Leaked letter won’t hush councillors

Two Leichhardt Labor councillors, Lyndal Howison and Darcy Byrne, have made it clear divergent opinion amongst the Labor faithful will not shift their opposition to the proposed Rozelle Village development.

This follows the leaking of a letter from Paul Howes, national secretary of the Australian Workers Union, to The Sydney Morning Herald on June 1. The letter asked the two councillors to cease their opposition to the proposal.

Ms Howison confirmed to Inner West Independent that she had seen the letter, saying it was sent to her and Mr Byrne directly. Mr Byrne has also confirmed seeing the letter. Both Mr Byrne and Ms Howison said it did not affect their opposition to the proposal.

Ms Howison told the Independent that as a local resident Mr Howes has a right to express his personal view. Mr Howes has said he was writing from
the view of a resident, and not a union official.

“The reality is that he is a high profile person and clearly the letter was leaked to the Sydney Morning Herald, so it was never meant to be just a personal resident to resident appeal.”

“Why else would you leak something to the Sydney Morning Herald?”

She said neither her nor Mr Byrne had leaked the letter. When asked whether she was suggesting it was Mr Howes who had leaked the letter, she said: “I don’t know. Somebody did.” The Rozelle Village development proposes the construction of a multi-tower complex, with the Balmain Tigers club occupying a portion of the site.

Mr Byrne and Ms Howison said there had been no other attempts to influence their position.

She said there is a misconception about how the Labor Party works. She personally has never felt pressured by party authority on a planning matter.

Both councillors spoke about former Federal Labor Tourism Minister John Brown’s open letter supporting the proposal.

Mr Byrne described Mr Brown as a “nice fella”, but added he does not speak for the Labor Party in the area. Ms Howison said every resident has a right to express their opinion on planning matters.

In his letter, which lamented the “slow and nasty death” of Rozelle, Mr Brown said “the self-appointed community spokespeople who are very vocal in their outbursts don’t speak for us.”

Ms Howison said the Leichhardt Council support the return of the Balmain Tigers but not through the current proposal, which she says will barely benefit the community. She said the club is being used to get the development approved.