Vale Ross Smith - tireless advocate and TU member

It is with great sadness that we note the passing of Ross Smith – a tireless advocate for fairness in the housing system, and member of the Tenants’ Union of NSW.

Ross was actively involved with the Waterloo Neighbourhood Advisory Board as the Peoples Precinct representative. He was a member of Counterpoint Community Services, King Cross Community Centre and South Sydney Community Aid, Treasurer and long-standing member of REDWatch, and volunteered with the South Sydney Herald. He was also an active member of the Australian Labor Party.

Ross was always willing to say what many others would not regarding social housing policy - or as he would say 'public and community housing' policy. He strongly disliked the term social housing.

This short video is a fitting tribute to him.

Ross was one of the speakers on Squatspace's artist project, The Redfern Waterloo Tour of Beauty. SquatSpace began meeting with local community representatives in 2005 in an attempt to understand exactly what the newly formed Redfern Waterloo Authority's actions would mean for life in Redfern/Waterloo. The issues in the area are extremely complex, and not easy to grasp simply by reading news articles or looking at maps, so SquatSpace began co-ordinating bike and bus tours in 2005. The Tour of Beauty evolves along with the issues in the area and years after the first one SquatSpace continue to run these tours. Ross Smith was a regular contributor to this, and many other community initiatives. Filmed by Tom Spark for #WeLiveHere2017.