Back in 1981, the NSW Department of Environment and Planning published Low Cost Country Home Building.
At 120 pages, it’s a comprehensive handbook for low cost construction and useful information around rural living.
The NSW government at the time put faith in people and seemed to want to help residents be self-sufficient and off grid.
The ’80s was a much simpler time, before governments destroyed the housing market for the middle to lower class, and in general, became mean.
Where is the spotlight?
But it’s now 2025, and at least election time puts the politicians and the bureaucrats under a spotlight.
Federal candidates and the incumbent Justine Elliot (Labor) are all wanting our vote on May 3.
Yet the optics this week have not been great for either (state) Labor or the Greens (locally).
As for Labor, they oversee The NSW Reconstruction Authority (RA).
As their recent annual report shows, RA is a bloated government agency with lots of top earning public servants who haven’t achieved much.
In an attempt to restore some dignity, respected local Labor Lismore MP Janelle Saffin was recently appointed NSW Minster for Recovery.
How is that going?
This week, RA excavators rolled into Lismore and began demolishing flood-affected houses. And there are court cases now underway to evict squatters (see page 8).
The RA are also booting flood-impacted people from four pods with a ‘plan’ being developed on the fly.
Over in the local Greens HQ, there are ongoing conflicting messaging regarding their commitment to how they treat the most vulnerable in the community (see page 1).
Greens mayor Sarah Ndiaye seems to think demolition orders are an appropriate response to a community of long-term residents unable to reply to compliance in a timely manner.
Greens Cr Elia Hauge, on the other hand, is seeking to pause action via a councillor motion.
And while this mixed messaging is happening, the Greens mayor continues to make a lot of noises around providing ‘ongoing emergency housing’ (see page 3).
Perhaps when she oversees the demolition of the homes of long-term locals in Main Arm who are unable to comply with inflexible planning laws and exorbitant DA costs they can’t afford, she could move them to the pod villages?
The theme here is that when politicians put the interests of bureaucrats above the public, it is done at their own peril – and their party’s reputation can be impacted.
Hans Lovejoy, editor
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