AUBURN CONSCIENCE

This page is designed to discuss social issues, to document needs and to highlight areas of concern arising from the hosting of the Olympic Games, in the hope of instigating changes.

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THE ISSUE OF ALLEGED BRIBERY IN THE BIDDING PROCESS

(Responses to Allegations)
Rev. Graham Guy, Preacher of the Homebush Bay International Christian Fellowship, an outreach of the Auburn Multicultural Christian Fellowship, has, in response to allegations that the Sydney bid was accompanied by certain payments to certain IOC delegates, prayed a prayer renouncing bribery and asks that the cities of the world will continue to permit Sydney to hold the Olympics at Homebush Bay in 2000, not because we deserve it, not because it is too late to change and not because other cities may have been offering bribes, but as an act of mercy.

In return, Mr Guy hopes that the Games will be a peoples Games, in that perhaps the Olympic movement will divest itself of the excesses which have developed in recent decades. To be the best ought to mean the achievement of hopes and dreams, the culmination of years of hard work. The achievement ought to be in the spirit of ethical and fair competition and in the context of inspiring the generation to come.
Mr Guy suggests that the "bidding process" be replaced by a tendering process, based on the ability of the cities to provide the best facilities , and not by "wining and dining" the IOC delegates.
This should not only include the quality of sporting facilities, accommodation and transport, but the provision of scholarships and training faciliities for athletes from poor countries.
In other words, the poverty should be addressed by all cities holding the Olympics assisting athletes from poorer countries not by delegates selling their vote.

Mr Guy has also called for a reduction of excessive extravagance of OIC members and elite officials:
Why not replace at least one lunch in the best restaurant in the city with a Barbecue in the BiCentennial Park?
There should be a limit of one state dinner during the Olympics.
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A HEALTHY AND ECOLOGICALLY SOUND SITE
Mr Guy is proud of the fact that the Olympic Park at Homebush Bay, is a suburb of Auburn, reiterates
his view he has held since 1993, that the Olympic Park at Homebush Bay is unique in three ways:

1. It is surrounded by suburbs with many modes of transportation including several access roads into the suburbs and onto the western Freeway and metro 3 and 5.

2. Homebush Bay is rejuvenated industrial wasteland.
Mr Guy often uses this to illustrate that if the Olympic Coordination Authority can transform an area contaminated by pollution into an Olympic Park and a revitalized suburb, then God our creator can heal wounded hearts and broken lives. It's the perfect venue for Aussie battlers to hold the Olympics. May this be the peoples Games. May our visitors enjoy our hospitality. Mr Guy said "I pray that our visitors will know the blessing of almighty God, as they come to the nation with the preamble in the constitution which states that our states came together 'humbly relying upon the blessing of almighty God.'"

3. Homebush Bay is unique because the facilities were build in the geographical centre of a suburban sprawl without demolishing a single house. We even moved the Tennis Centre to leave the frogs in their unique environment at the old brick pit.
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Housing - Can Sydney do it Better ?

In the lead up to the Atlanta Games a group of
Christians formed the “Atlanta Conscience”. Of particular concern were
two issues:

1. That housing for the poor was demolished to build the
Stadium. There was lobbying to have housing built for
the poor in another suburb.

2. "The fence" - that ACOOG saw its task solely to build and
operate the venues for the games and it did not concern
itself with matters outside the venues.

The situation is somewhat different in Sydney for the
following reasons:

All of the facilities are built on land not previously put to residential use, in fact the village and the press
village will increase the supply of housing in the Auburn Local
Government Area.

Most of the facilities are built
at Homebush Bay, which was a disused abbatoir and a brick pit and the
village is
part of a new suburb, Newington, which was the site of a Naval
facility. It is a massave project of urban renewal. A polluted environment
has been rejuvinated to protect the Homebush Bay wetlands, in the Bi
Centennial Park.

The sporting venues were needed
regardless of the Games. There is an emphasis on community use for the
huge populatation of the western suburbs. Many who have access are
from the poorer suburbs. The Stadium's first event is not the Games but
a football match where a newspaper offered $5.00 tickets. The game
has been sold out to the people of Sydney. The Acquatic Centre has
been used by the community since it's opening. The Homebush Bay
International Christian Fellowship and the Homebush Bay Inner West
Aussie Awakening Prayer Vigil have held Christian Events in the Centre
for the last three years. After the games Sydney will continue to have
these facilities for elite sporting events and community use.

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Road corridors from the city to Homebush Bay
Of great concern is the lack of resolve
of the New South Wales Government to
build adequate road infrastructure
from the city to Homebush Bay,
by either
building tunnels for separation of cross traffic
on Victoria Road at Gladesville,
Lyons Road Drummoyne and
Darling Street Balmain
or by building the tunnel to link the City West Freeway
to the M4 motorway at North Strathfield.
The necessary work on Victoria Road and the
"missing link" to the west
are both thirty years overdue
and to not build them for the Olympics is inexcusable.

Victoria Road:
Great potential, but needs grade separation of cross streets to improve traffic flow.
It was obvious in 1993 that Victoria Road being
the more picturesque, with the view
along Homebush Bay Drive and the Gladesville Bridge
would become the preferred route to the Olympic Park
at Homebush Bay. The new interchange at Ryde has
certainly enhanced the traffic flow, however more work
needs to be done at Gladesville shopping centre
a tunnel for turning traffic at Lyons Road for the
traffic to turn under the oncoming lanes and a
tunnel under the hill at Rozelle.
With this work undertaken
Sydney would be left with a great infrastructure
as a legacy from the Olympics.
The Minister for Transport is urged to provide
urgent funding for these projects.
It would be inexcusable to simply push Olympic traffic through
at the expense of local traffic and
metropolitan commuters, as seems to be planned.

City West to Homebush Bay.
The need is for a tunnel to link Dobroyd Street to the M4 Motorway.
In the short turn the following measures would relieve "the Wattle Street Traffic Jam":

a longer right hand turning bay at Wattle St turning into Ramsay Street.
a dedicated left hand turning bay at Patterson St. and Concord Road
a dedicated left hand turn at Concord Road and Parramatta Road
a dedicated left hand turning lane from Parramatta Road to the M4
In the medium term, the following underpasses / overpasses would relieve pressure on the system:

Wattle Street over Parramatta Road into Frederick St.
a right hand overpass bridge to take outbound traffic from Dobroyd to Ramsay St
Great North Road under Fairlight St. (or Fairlight under Great North Road)
A tunnel from the end of the M4 to Gipps Road at Queen Elizabeth Park
It is imperative that the next stage of the City West Link progresses
from Dobroyd St through to Queens Parade.
Any suggestion to take city west from Dobroyd through to the
Great North Road would necessitate an outbound overpass
to take outbound (westbound) traffic from Great North Road,
over the inbound Parramatta Road traffic, into the centre lane
outbound Parramatta Road lane.
Parramatta Road would function better if there were a bridge
taking the outbound traffic from Parramatta Road,
over the inbound Parramatta Road traffic and onto the M4.
Homebush Bay is beside the main transport corridor
linking the two million residents
in the western suburbs, the outer western suburbs
and the Blue Mountains to the city.
A few years ago Pastor Graham attended
a consultative meeting conducted by the
Premier's Department of the Fahey State Government
months before they lost the election.
He stated:
"the NSW State Government should build the roads to accomodate peak traffic to the Olympics and then we would have a road network to cope with the next ten years rather than being twenty years behind."
The strategy of most spectators travelling to the Olympic Park at Homebush Bay by rail is an excellent one which has proven sucessful at two Easter Shows and many sporting events at Stadium Australia in 1999.
However there are many who need to use busses or cars, particularly
those in suburbs not serviced by rail, and Olympic officials.
At each event about three hundred buses and several thousand cars use the roads to go to the Homebush Bay car parks, choosing to pay up to $20 to park in the five car parks, even though this is rightly discouraged.
The Olympic Park at Homebush Bay is adjacent to the main transport corridor from the City to the outer Western Suburbs. this places the Olympic Park at an ideal location, with multiple links to the transport corridor.
The transport deficiency lies not in transport demands arising from the Olympics, but in deficiencies within the main transport corridor itself on a daily basis.
The most workable solution would appear to be to build a tunnel with vents using extractors to catch pollution and to rezone affected properties as high rise so that properties devalued by the exhaust vents would be increased in value as sites zoned for high rise development. The new buildings could be purpose built to accommodate the vents in the most environmentally friendly manner.
Clearly the building of the tunnel to bridge "the missing link" is a priority.

The responsible government officials are :
Premier of New South Wales
and Minister for Roads
The bridging of the "missing link" is being delayed by a lack of resolve to negotiate a solution to the metropolitan road transport needs compatible with local environmental and community concerns.
The relevant parties are : The Mayors of Concord, Strathfield, Burwood
and Ashfield.

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HEALTH - A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

The Main Hospitals servicing the Olympic Park, Homebush Bay, are Concord and Westmead.

Basic medical needs can be accomodated in Auburn Shopping Centre, Auburn Road, Auburn. Auburn is the local Council for Homebush Bay.

Auburn can be accessed by train from Olympic Park to the Lidcombe Station change to platform 4 catch train to Auburn - the next station.
By car, exit Hill Road to Holker St, left down Parramatta Road, cross Parramatta Road follow St Hilliers Road (straight ahead), turn Right at Rawson Road Lights (when most traffic veers left) up to the Station Street Lights and left to Auburn.
Find a parking space and there are several Medical Centres and Chemists open 8.00am to about 9.45 pm.
Watch this site for information re. the cost to overseas visitors.

Unfortunately the Emergency Departments at major hospitals are often overloaded, especicially Westmead. Auburn is a little quicker. Whilst there are plans for major emergencies during the Games, for average needs the Medical Centres are quicker, followed by Auburn and Concord hospitals.
Westmead Hospital has long waiting times

Pastor Graham has for several years worked tirelessly to persuade the Health Department to address the extensive waiting times and it is hoped that the Ministerial Task force will find some solutions.

Pastor Graham has suggested:
1. Private practices be allowed to rent rooms off the emergency ward waiting rooms to lessen the waiting time and to offload "minor" cases, freeing up the emergency ward staff to attend to emergencies and serious cases requiring admission.
2. The Prime Minister has been asked to address certain funding issues, so that the hospital emergency wards are paid per patient per treatment so that more patients in heavy demand periods attract the funding to employ more staff.
3. Greater use of district hospitals so that the major referral hospital beds are free for patients requiring the higher levels of medicine provided in a Hospital of international excellence (for those fortunate enough to be allocated a bed.)

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For those seeking authentic Christianity
ie 'doctrine" in Aussie style
and sharing Christ in a meaniful way,
TAKE THIS LINK

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JESUS is the ANSWER
because the problem is SIN-
GREED, HATE, SELFISHNESS,
REBELLION and IMMORALITY.

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