The human stories behind the Waterloo estate.
GERARD VIRGONA, 55, MARTON BUILDING
Gerard enjoys a sweeping vista of Sydney from his apartment, but he’s not one to be preoccupied by it. “I’m not really that into the view. When you first move in it’s OK and then it’s just the same.” He hopes the redevelopment improves the estate’s homes. “Considering what’s been happening with defects in tall buildings lately, I’m a bit dubious of the redevelopment, but I don’t mind. Once you’re behind your four walls, what does it matter?”
CATHERINE SKIPPER, 83, MATAVAI BUILDING
Sun streams through the window of Catherine’s apartment, where classical literature lines the bookshelves and artworks dot the walls. “It’s beautiful isn’t it,” she says of the morning light. Catherine, a former teacher, was nervous to move into the estate a decade ago. “People said to me, ‘Waterloo — that’s a terrible place’. But after being here a week or so I realised it’s a lovely place and I was very lucky to be living here.”
KARYN BROWN, 58, MADDEN PLACE APARTMENT
Karyn likes the company and security of living in the inner city. She’s lived in Waterloo for 29 years. “There’s this idea people live here because they were told to live here and if you tell them to live somewhere else that will be OK. People live here because they want to. I don’t know where I’ll move yet, so that’s a little bit frightening. It’s quite hard to deal with, it’s hard to plan anything.”
LINDA MONTANA, 47, MARTON BUILDING
Linda’s unit is a frenzy of animal print furniture and indoor plants. “I’ve always loved that jungle vibe. This is a place of sanctuary, even though people say, ‘Oh, it’s public housing’. It’s what you make it.” Linda, who is transgender, fears the redevelopment will destroy a sense of community. She otherwise feels aloof about it. “I’m just on my own so I can just bring my plants with me wherever.”
ANNA LAI, 80, MARTON BUILDING
Anna has lived in Waterloo for 23 years after moving to Australia from Taiwan. “When I came here there were no people, no Chinese — only me.” Anna doesn’t want to leave. “Here is very good. I know so many people. I give people a smiley face — ‘hello!’ Some people here are not good. Sometimes people knock on my door at night — noisy! People can’t move from here. You move away — sad. I die here.”
ANNA KOVIC, 83, DANIEL SOLANDER BUILDING
Anna Kovic stares at the towering fig tree beside her balcony, where she feeds rainbow lorikeets. “The tree outside used to be my size when I moved here and now it is very huge. Anna moved to Australia from Croatia in 1960. She was the fifth tenant to move into her block with her son in 1972. “Now they’re threatening us they will pull this building down. They can take my body out — I won’t leave.”
MAGGIE PIUK, 82, MARTON BUILDING
Maggie cried when she moved from Bondi Junction to Waterloo in 1976. “It was very sad for me. We didn’t know anybody. I liked living in the eastern suburbs. But now I wouldn’t give you thruppence for it because it is just so beautiful in this area.” Maggie, who was born in Wales, lives with her son. Her husband, Vlady, died in 2001. “People say, ‘Aren’t you frightened to go out?’ And I think it’s just rubbish because I’ve only ever known kindness from anybody.”
BETTY CHAN, 40, DANIEL SOLANDER BUILDING
Betty was warned Waterloo would be dangerous when she moved to the estate seven years ago. She says it’s a mix of good and bad. “My neighbour was an elderly Russian lady and she said, ‘I’ll be your security, I’ll look out for you’. When my friends came to visit from America, they called it the Novotel. They don’t see it as public housing.” Betty grows fruit, vegetables and herbs in her lot at the community garden.
DARLENE CRUMP, 64, JAMES COOK BUILDING
Darlene was wary of moving to the city from Moree. She needn’t have worried. “It’s probably one of the best things I’ve done. I knew nobody, but surprisingly there were a lot of Moree people here.” A friend warned she would be living in “the roughest part of Sydney”. “I suppose being a [Wiradjuri] elder people tend to back off.” Darlene thinks the redevelopment could be positive. “As long as they give me a place to live I don’t care what they do.”
ONTEE L’MONT-BROWN, 72, MARTON BUILDING
When Manhattan-born Ontee first moved to Australia and began a job as an accountant, he’d never set foot in the country before. “The things I heard were very positive.” Ontee later got laid off from his job and spent two years living rough. He moved to the estate in 2002. “I feel safe. The people are basically friendly. I made a lot of friends.” He says plans for the redevelopment are going slowly but “it’s not a main problem”.
ANNA NORTH, 59, WELLINGTON STREET WALK-UP
Anna’s apartment is the most stable home she’s had since she was a child, when she lived in Moscow, Paris and Canberra. Anna moved from Potts Point five years ago after “a pretty erratic working life wanting to be an actor” and the loss of a job she loved. “I don’t think I’m going to come back because it won’t be what I know and what I love and what I felt was like a sanctuary for me.”
FELIX SCERRI, 66, MATAVAI TOWER
Felix has lived all over Sydney but never experienced the sense of community he found in Waterloo. “People put us down because we’re Redfern-Waterloo, but it’s the best place I’ve ever lived. We might end up with better flats and all that if they redevelop, that’s only secondary. It’s the community that’s being broken up.” Felix would like to move back after the redevelopment — “if I’m still around”.
LOUISE VIRGONA, 57, MCEVOY STREET BLOCK
Street violence and riots — that’s what Louise expected when she moved to the estate five years ago. It’s more peaceful than I thought it would be. I thought it would be a lot more violent.” Louise would like to live in a new building. “I don’t know when the move will be. It worries me a bit because of where I might be moved to. It should be good to have new buildings for people.”
GRANT DONOHUE, 54, MARTON BUILDING
The plan to force residents out of Waterloo reminds Grant of public housing tenants being shifted from habourside properties at Millers Point and The Rocks. “The way the government did it was very confusing, there was a lack of detail. I’m cynical about the overall motives of the redevelopment. I understand why they’re doing it, but I can see a lot of outside pressure from the developers to get their hands on some of this land.”
OLIVIA BRIGHT, 66, DANIEL SOLANDER BUILDING
“Hello over there, what’s your name?” Former showgirl Olivia is resplendent in a red lace gown as she reclines, cigarette in hand, on her cheetah print lounge. “I’m Bette, Bette Davies. Buckle up, baby. It’s going to be a bumpy ride,” Olivia roars with a throaty cackle, throwing her head back and puffing smoke rings into the air. Olivia, a proud transgender Wiradjuri woman, says Waterloo is home. “I was hoping when I leave, it’ll be in a body bag, because I’ll die here.”
PHILIP GRANDFIELD, 73, JOSEPH BANKS BUILDING
Philip had comfortably retired in Indonesia when he poured his savings into an investment syndicate run by a man he’d known for years. “He claimed God told him he needed the money more than we did, so he took the lot.” Philip returned to Australia broke. But it meant doctors picked up a melanoma. “Better alive and poor than rich and dead.” He says the redevelopment will improve the area. “I don’t see any drawbacks.”
Courtesy of The Sydney Morning Herald