Balmain Ratbags - A short history of activism in Balmain

Panel Discussion

Balmain has long been a hotbed of activism. Sometimes called "Balmain Ratbags” or, more benignly, "Balmain Basket Weavers”, various causes have been championed over many decades.

Community activism contributed to the closure of Mort Bay Container Wharf, the formation of the Balmain Association, saving Clontarf Cottage for community use, establishing the Community Independents to run Leichhardt Council for terms, and saving Ballast Point from development, among many causes.

The Balmain we know and love today is partly the result of past activists.

But what is happening today?

Join a panel discussion to reflect on how this all happened and why Balmain Ratbags are now an endangered species.

The panel will include:

• Hall Greenland (author, writer, former Councillor and member of the Callan Park Action Group)
• Larry Hand (former Community Independent Councillor and Mayor, of Rats in the Ranks fame)
• Carolyne Alan, (former Community Independent Councillor and Mayor member of the Balmain Association)
• Chris Taylor (from The Chaser, feature writer for the Darling Magazine)
• Alan Rosen (Clontarf Cottage Committee)
• Richard Rollo (Clontarf Cottage secret provocateur))
• Di Garder (Balmain Association)
• Others

Cost

$10.00