Seeking Sydney is a podcast that travels to the landscapes and landmarks of Sydney, adding the people and their stories. I will publish one episode every month for ten months. Episode 7 is now available in your podcast subscription, on the Spineless Wonders website, in Apple podcasts or Spotify or iHeart!

In Episode 7, I travel down the Parramatta River on the ferry. Leaving from Circular Quay, the ferry stops often, and you move from hectic Sydney Cove – Warrane – to the slow-moving river, surrounded by mangroves.

Along the way, there are so many stories. We catch sight of the cat’s cradle that is the Anzac Bridge. We stop at the Barangaroo wharf, named for the Cammeraygal woman who was highly critical of the white colonists. Grace Karskens has written about her, and her skill as a fisherwoman, here. We go past the island Me-Mel [Goat Island] where Judge-Advocate David Collins saw her with her husband, Bennelong, noting that Bennelong claimed it as his. That claim is finally being honoured.

Birchgrove marks the official spot where river meets harbour. At the next stop, Cockatoo Island, we can look across to Kelly’s Bush and remember the 13 residents who became the Battlers for Kelly’s Bush, joining forces with the unions and turning their patch of local bush into a celebrated first: the first green ban. Ben Ewald gives a first-hand account of the importance of the bush to the local children, and remembers the scale of the opposition to development.

2021 was the 50th anniversary of this momentous event and to celebrate, Hunters Hill Museum put together a fascinating exhibition. This was unfortunately affected by Covid closures but, with the help of Hunters Hill Council, an electronic presentation of The Battle for Kelly’s Bush can be viewed here. There are lots of websites that discuss the battle. The Hunters Hill Trust has a page dedicated to the battle and to the upkeep of the area. And this is a nice one that discusses a green ban in Eastlakes that drew strength from the Kelly’s Bush precedent. This one includes some contemporary footage from ABC news, including a short interview with Elizabeth James, one of the Battlers. This one is a general description of the first green bans, and this one is a whole website dedicated to green bans. This one describes the industries in Woolwich. This is an interesting article on green bans from 1974, including a list of green bans at the time. The article is based on a booklet produced by Wendy Bacon and others. Wendy is still fighting for the protection of communities and the environment, and she talks knowledgeably in this episode about the value of protest.

Two questions arise for me: what are the legacies of the green bans, and, could green bans work today? Wendy answers the first – large swathes of Sydney, particularly the inner city, would have vanished – and Sydney lawyer Steven Penning answers the second – spoiler alert: probably not.

Past the wharves at Drummoyne, Chiswick and Abbotsford we chug, then Cabarita and Kissing Point. Bennelong was buried at Kissing Point, as news reports in 2011 told us, but that site is yet to be honoured.

Opposite Kissing Point there is a pretty little building on the shore: the watergate to the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital. There is a picture of it here, along with a history of the site.

After Meadowbank is the Sydney Olympic Park wharf, reminding me of the 2000 Olympics and happy Sydney. It also reminds me of Matthew Doyle saying that he contributed music and choreography, and his own performance. Here is a link to the Indigenous section of the opening ceremony. Take the time to watch it through – it’s brilliant.

A little further along we go under Silverwater Road, and I’m reminded of a story that Wendy Bacon told me about the Silverwater Women’s Correctional Centre, once called Mulawa. She was there as part of the Women Behind Bars group, in support of Violet Roberts. Here is some more information about that action, and here is a radio program about it.

The river has slowed considerably, and as we approach Rydalmere I realise that we’re going to have to get off there, and not actually reach Parramatta. This is reminiscent of the days when Redbank Wharf was the end of the ferry service, so here is a photo of that wharf. Press on ‘Info’ to see more about the photo. Here is some information about the tram between Parramatta and Duck River.

One of the reasons I wanted to interview Felicity Castagna was because of her essay, The Loop. Both she and Jing Han work at the Parramatta South Campus of the University of Western Sydney. The campus includes The Female Orphan School, which now houses the Whitlam Institute. You can sing along to ‘It’s Time’ here. Try to smile as convincingly as everyone in the video.

Finally, there are lots of sites with more information on the notorious Tampa affair, but you could start here with Amnesty International.

And here are a couple of general sites that talk about the Parramatta River.

This one is from a talk given in 1919 by a Parramatta resident, recalling the river between 1848 and 1861.

This one is a beautiful, sad, insightful essay about the river and its meaning for its traditional owners, by Willem Brussen. He says, ‘I know that the river is not the same as it was for my ancestors, and despite attempts at restoration, I’m not sure it will ever be the same. However, the river like its people is still here and therein lies some hope for the future.’

Acknowledgements

Interviewees for episode 7: my thanks to you all

Felicity Castagna, on Instagram under @Felicity Castagna 

Ben Ewald, former resident of Balmain and Hunters Hill

Wendy Bacon, https://www.wendybacon.com/

Steven Penning, Sydney employment lawyer specialising in workplace relations and safety

Jing Han, leading intercultural communication expert and director of the Institute for Australian and Asian Arts and Culture at Western Sydney University. Instagram: jinghan2020

Thanks also to:

Bronwyn Mehan, Spineless Wonders

Martin Gallagher, Echidna Audio: sound design

Zoe Hercus: publicity

Bettina Kaiser: logo & artwork

Peter Barley: extra voices

References

The quote from Judge-Advocate David Collins is from An Account of the English Colony of NSW Vol 1 by David Collins, Appendix 1X. http://gutenberg.net.au/first-fleet.html

Information about Goat Island’s uses by the colonists from The Islands of Sydney Harbour. Mary Shelley Clark and Jack Clark. Kangaroo Press, 2000.

Information about the Louise Rd subdivision from Conservation Management Plan for Birchgrove Park, Birchgrove NSW. Prepared for Leichhardt Council by Mayne-Wilson and Associates, August 2005.

Information on current union membership is from the ABS website.

Information about the extent of the lands of the Wallumedegal is from https://www.ryde.nsw.gov.au/Library/Local-and-Family-History/Historic-Ryde/Aboriginal-History [viewed 7/8/25]

The naming of Ryde and the Field of Mars: https://www.ryde.nsw.gov.au/Library/Local-and-Family-History/Historic-Ryde/History-of-Ryde [viewed 7/8/25]

Letter from Rev William Walker to Rev Richard Watson November 1821. Mitchell Library, Bonwick Transcripts Box 52. Reproduced in Focus on Ryde: a local studies resource. Ryde Bicentenary Schools and Youth task Force, 1992, item 1.3.

The description of the produce from the area in 1899 is from Focus on Ryde: a local studies resource. Ryde Bicentenary Schools and Youth task Force, 1992, section 4 introduction.

Maria Paolini’s reminiscences are in Give me strength: Forza e coraggio. Italian Australian Women Speak. Anna Maria Kahan-Guidi and Elizabeth Weiss (eds), Women’s Redress Press, 1990, p71.

The quote from Governor Phillip is from, The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay, London 1789 (facsimile edition Hutchinson 1982) p102.

The description of Rivendell school is from their website.

The description of the retinue accompanying Gregory Blaxland, William Wentworth and Lt William Lawson Gregory Blaxland across the Blue Mountains comes from, A journal of a tour of discovery across the Blue Mountains, New South Wales in the year 1813. Reprinted by Sydney University Press 2004, p5.

Information about the electorate of Werriwa is from here.

Statistics on the birthplace of Parramatta residents is here.