Latest news with #innerwest
News.com.au
2 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
The exposed horror reality for tenants in NSW
A Sydney rental is getting attention for all the wrong reasons, with one disturbing feature leaving potential tenants in shock. A video tour of a Sydney home recently listed for rent has exposed the living conditions some tenants have been expected to endure, with the home alleged to have a trashed kitchen and leaking ceiling. Posted to Instagram by online content creator Jordan van den Lamb, who has garnered a large following from exposing less-than-desirable listings, the video casts the spotlight on a $550 a week listing in the inner west suburb of Burwood. Images reveal a deteriorating kitchen missing cupboards and drawers below the sink. Some of the last remaining doors appear to be hanging barely from hinges. 'So (the agents) describe this place as having a good condition kitchen and bathroom,' Mr Van den Lamb stated in the video. 'But this is the kitchen – if by good they mean, bad, then maybe.' Mr Van den Lamb, who often posts content under the tag 'Sh*t Rentals', revealed in the video that the images were taken from someone from the group's subreddit, who inspected the residence. 'This is a photo of the bedroom ceiling, which just reminds me of really bad psoriasis,' he said. 'So anyways, thanks for wasting this person's time.' The Burwood listing comes off the back of revelations of another Sydney rental in squalid condition, shared via TikTok video. The former tenant alleged that the Petersham rental included a bug infestation throughout the house, a window that could be opened from the outside as well as a random shipping container in the backyard. The creator said she spent $240 a week on rent which was the least out of the sharehouse's nine tenants, with some people paying $350 a week. These rentals have been listed as a prominent tenants' rights group warned recent regulation changes have given NSW tenants a raw deal. The June changes have made it easier for landlords to evict tenants and undermine earlier reforms which sought to make it illegal for tenants to be evicted without reason, according to the Tenants Union of NSW. The Tenants Union pointed to previous requirements for landlords wanting to evict tenants for major repairs or renovations to give a written statement, tradie quotes for required works or proof of development approval. This measure was intended to ensure landlord claims of renovations were genuine and significant enough to warrant eviction and not simply a tactic to unfairly evict tenants, the union said. It claims a move by the NSW government in June to quietly remove this key safeguard, which means landlords do not have to provide the same level of renovations evidence as before, has opened the way for unjust 'renovictions'. The NSW Tenants' Union said the changes open the door to non-genuine 'renovictions'.
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Whenever we could': Couple that moved to Australia in 2006 now own over 18 homes
A strategic couple have revealed how they own 18 properties after only moving to Australia in 2006. Rasti Vaibhav, 48, and his wife Rupali Rastogi, 43, moved to Australia from India with 'pretty much nothing' apart from permanent residency and a drive to build their lives together. When they arrived they stayed at Mr Vaibhav's cousin's home until they eventually secured a rental in Sydney's inner west. The pair secured solid jobs in IT and banking, earning a combined income of around $190,000 a year. However, they were both stunned by the high cost of living in Australia. 'The first few years we were just getting our footing in this country and it is so expensive here,' Mr Vaibhav told 'Your salary looks big on paper but, once you pay tax, what you have in your hand is pretty much nothing.' According to Mr Vaibhav, the couple always planned to buy property in Australia and build a secure home, but, shortly after arriving they realised it would be an uphill battle. Even as a dual-income couple with no dependants, it didn't take long for them to accept they couldn't afford a home Sydney. 'It took us no time to figure out that if we bought our own home to live in we would have to wait a lot longer because our savings rate wasn't much and the prices of properties were going up and up,' he said. 'The community we lived in was expensive.' Mr Vaibhav has a background in data analysis, architecture and banking, and the couple spent a considerable amount of time determining where to invest in property if they couldn't afford to buy where they were living at the time. 'When it became clear we couldn't afford our own home, we worked out how much we could afford and let that decide where we should buy,' he said. In the beginning, the couple were apprehensive about having to change their home buying plans, but there was simply no way their rate of saving was going to outpace a booming property market. In 2011, they bought a block of land in Newcastle, NSW, for $180,000 with a tidy 10 per cent deposit. On that block of land, they built a four-bedroom home and rented it out for $575 a week. It was positively geared 'from day one', boosting their income practically overnight. 'It raised our income by $30,000 and that allowed us to go back to the bank and increase our borrowing power more and more,' Mr Vaibhav said. The savvy pair have rinsed and repeated that cycle ever since. They analyse data in areas with high growth, purchase homes and then rent out the properties. 'It isn't about buying any property, it is about buying the right property, in the right area, at the right price,' he said. 'Banks lend money based on income and it isn't just about value of the property but the rent you're expecting from the property.' They now have 18 properties across four states, two of which feature granny flats, resulting in a total of 20 tenants. Their portfolio, as a whole, is positively geared but the amount they owe in mortgages is pretty staggering, at the moment it is sitting at over $5 million. The more they've built up their property empire, the more they've been able to take measured risks. For instance, buying a property and having it negatively geared, but that cost can then be covered by a positively geared property. Mr Vaibhav and his wife's property portfolio is conservatively valued at around $11.3 million and they're making $122,000 a year in pure income. The landlord emphasised that none of this was a mere happy accident; they had worked diligently to understand the market. 'We did a lot of digging and looked at data,' he explained. They're also not constantly offloading properties to cash-up, but rather see it as a long-term plan. 'People make the mistake of selling the property to get the profit out of it, but the challenge is there are lots of transaction costs,' he said, adding that he and his wife 'buy for the long term'. Mr Vaibhav said their strategy as always been to buy 'whenever we could' and they have always leveraged their current properties to buy more. The couple have also been careful to minimise risk by always having a financial nest egg. 'We've always followed the rule - and the number keeps changing as the portfolio has grown - but you should have (enough cash to cover) six months' worth of mortgage repayments,' he said. The couple are now living in the Northern Beaches, renting a $4 million mansion and living the good life. 'We're living the dream in the suburb we like to live in while our money is working really hard for us,' he said. Mr Vaibhav argued that, if he bought a $4 million property, he'd be spending over $200,000 a year on interest alone. He would rather invest his money in more affordable properties and keep buying multiple homes, than let it get chewed up in interest. Mr Vaibhav is very proud of what he and his wife have managed to achieve and said the biggest lesson they've learned is to think outside of your own suburb. He argued that the most common 'mistake' people make is trying to buy where they live, rather than where they can afford. 'Rentvesting is a powerful strategy that allows you to live the lifestyle you desire, while building long-term wealth through property investment,' he said. 'By renting where you want to live and investing where the financial opportunities are strongest, you can achieve both your dream lifestyle and financial security. 'It also opens the door to buying your dream home later, paying it off, and building the retirement funds you need.' The couple now run Get RARE properties an independent buyer's agency where they work to help other Aussies build their own property empires.
Daily Mail
02-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Shots fired into home on Davidson Avenue, Concord in Sydney: Police launch urgent investigation
21:21 Shots fired into a Sydney home Shots have been fired at a home in Sydney's inner-west before an abandoned car was found torched in a nearby suburb. Police were called to Davidson Avenue in Concord shortly after 1am on Thursday. Officers attached to Burwood Police Area Command attended and established a crime scene. No one was home at the time of the incident and there were no reports of injuries. Emergency services were called to a car fire at Stuart Street, Burwood a short time later. The vehicle was destroyed. The fire is being treated as suspicious and initial inquiries have led police to believe the two incidents may be linked. Detectives are also investigating whether the house involved was the intended target of the shooting.
ABC News
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
David Campbell, Virginia Gay, Natalie Abbott and Victoria Falconer on Australian cabaret
David Campbell inspired Virginia Gay to get into cabaret. She was just 14 years old, and Campbell was teaching at her performing arts high school in Sydney's inner west. "He was very young and very handsome," Gay recalls. "I developed a psychotic crush on him." Still in her school uniform, she would travel to RSLs across Sydney to watch Campbell perform, sometimes carrying the gift of a bunch of gerberas in her arms. "David Campbell is one of the best in the world at cabaret, even [in his early 20s]. He felt so close to us in age, so we were like, 'Ah, you're doing it!'" she says. "And I remember thinking, 'I cannot get enough of this art form.' "I loved that sense that, with no set at all and with just a little bit of subtle lighting, just David and a piano, he'd suddenly built a whole world." This year, Gay asked Campbell — who is now a good friend who never brings up her teenage obsession — to be one of the headliners for Adelaide Cabaret Festival, her second and final as artistic director. It's a job Campbell held himself, 15 years ago, from 2009 to 2011. Campbell exemplified one strand of Gay's 2025 program: a focus on legacy artists, alongside the likes of cabaret royalty Rizo and Carlotta. The rest of last month's festival combined the "cutting edge" of contemporary cabaret — with local artists like Victoria Falconer and Reuben Kaye, who assumes the role of artistic director next year — and performers working across genres, including performance art, burlesque, drag, circus and comedy. It also looked to the future of the form, with artists including Natalie Abbott (ABC TV's Aftertaste; Muriel's Wedding the Musical) and Seann Miley Moore (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) performing their debut shows. Funnily, Campbell's first festival as artistic director was Gay's first as a performer, in Gentlemen Prefer Jokes, with Trevor Ashley and Courtney Act. "I was like a demented nurse who also just got up and did her dance numbers, which was little more than a box step," she says, with a laugh. Within three years, she was performing her debut solo show at the festival: Dirty Pretty Songs, following it up with Songs to Self-Destruct To. Along with artists like Yve Blake, Eddie Perfect and Tim Minchin, Gay honed her creative voice through cabaret. It led her to making works of theatre like Cyrano, which she toured last year to Edinburgh Fringe. "Sometimes people dismiss cabaret, and I think it is so vital," she says. "There's a real immediacy in the authenticity of a totally unique, magical voice that is delivered very intimately and with a really strong connection to an audience. "It is about what makes live theatre exciting, and it is unreplicatable." While Gay is still a regular on stage and screen, she rarely performs cabaret anymore. Instead, taking on the top job at Adelaide Cabaret Festival has made her realise how much she enjoys creating space for other artists. "Perhaps it's a kind of ego death, where I don't need to be the star," she says. "What I love is to make a space for other people to play in — both audience and performer." David Campbell came to cabaret out of necessity. In the early 90s, he moved from Adelaide to Sydney to work as an actor, but a couple of years into his career, work started to dry up. The son of Cold Chisel frontman Jimmy Barnes, Campbell had been reluctant to sing professionally because of the inevitable comparison to his father. His then-manager encouraged him to do it anyway; to "do something different [to Barnes]", Campbell recalls. That's when he started combining personal monologues with songs from musical theatre, performing them on stage in bars and cabaret venues to audiences of anywhere between 6 and 20 people. "[My cabaret] started out very strict and clunky, and very angsty and emotional," Campbell says. "I was so stressed by being on stage, being a people-pleaser and not wanting to do anything wrong." At the time, the local cabaret scene was dominated by powerful women performers, including Nancye Hayes and Geraldine Turner. "It was seen as a chanteuse-y world, and here I was, an upstart, trying to be like, well, maybe I could do that too," he says. But it wasn't until Campbell moved to America in the late 90s that he truly found his cabaret voice. "Going to the US was extremely freeing for me because they didn't know who I was, they didn't know who my dad was, so I could start again," he says. "It was really a great safe place, without the eyes of our industry here in Australia looking at me going, 'Ah, he sucks. There were only 15 people in the audience, and he did a Jimmy Barnes joke.'" In New York, he met performers — including White Christmas star Rosemary Clooney and Broadway legend Barbara Cook — who encouraged him to try new things, and taught him how to work a room. "These people were themselves on stage," he says. "They were the song. You know, my dad does it: it's when the song and the singer become one. It's just this amazing thing. "You do need runs on the board to do that. It doesn't just happen." Now 30 years into his cabaret career, Campbell says he wants to be "reaching down" to support the next generation — just like Clooney, Hayes and more did for him. During his tenure at Adelaide Cabaret Festival, he nurtured emerging cabaret artists, like Gay, Christie Whelan Browne and Hugh Sheridan. He also set up Class of Cabaret, an ongoing initiative of the festival, which mentors high school students. "There might be some young David Campbell or Virginia Gay; nerdy kids that don't fit in with everybody else that want to do this," he says. "To be able to say, 'Come in, this place is for you as well,' is really important." Like Gay and Campbell, Victoria Falconer is a cabaret artist who wants to create space for others. She's the co-artistic director of Hayes Theatre Co in Sydney, a small theatre dedicated to musicals, which in June hosted a winter cabaret season, including some of the artists from the Adelaide festival. She's also the musical director for Hedwig and the Angry Inch, now in Melbourne for Rising, before touring to Sydney. For Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Falconer curated a late-night salon, The Parlour — an opportunity to bring together performers from across Australian and international cabaret, including the local independent scene. "It's the perfect level of controlled chaos, where I personally feel like I thrive," she says. "Seeing the magic that happens when you bring everybody together is something special; that's what The Parlour is about." But, like Campbell, Falconer had to leave Australia to forge a career in cabaret. She moved to London in 2003, where she formed "risque cabaret character comedy" duo EastEnd Cabaret, with German performance artist Bernadette Byrne (aka Bernie Dieter), started playing the musical saw and experimented with androgyny on stage. "I knew I wanted to make cabaret because I was obsessed with Marlene Dietrich and cabaret performers of the 30s," she says. "When I first started performing with [Byrne], we thought that we were the only people doing what we were doing. "Once we started putting it out there, other weirdos started finding us, finding each other, [and] creating [cabaret] nights." It's a reflection of the DIY attitude of cabaret artists across the world — where performers stage their shows wherever they can, from dedicated theatres to queer and dive bars. "Cabaret gets made, regardless of whether there's a stage or not," Falconer says. "There's an inherent need to create new spaces where there weren't spaces before; to express beyond what a lot of mainstream genres can do; and to connect to audiences that maybe don't feel as comfortable or welcome in mainstream spaces. Falconer stresses the depth of talent that exists now in the Australian — and especially the Adelaide — arts scene. "When I moved back from London and lived here for a few years, I knew the arts scene here was fabulous," she says. "But I think it needs to be talked about more." As for what's distinctive about Australian cabaret, Falconer describes it as "larrikinism that then gets draped in feathers and sequins". Her role as host and curator of The Parlour is about outreach; finding performers who are already doing something like cabaret on Australian stages (and in the corners of bars). "If I find them, I will put them on a cabaret stage, introduce them to a bunch of other people who are also doing weird stuff, and foster community that way." One of the artists who performed their debut cabaret show at Adelaide Cabaret Festival was musical theatre and TV actor Natalie Abbott. Her show Bad Hand was a meditation on grief, love and loss — through song. It was the product of a real tragedy: the sudden death of her partner. In May last year, Abbott's boyfriend production runner Ryan Cuskelly, died after he was diagnosed with a severe and highly aggressive immune deficiency disorder and virus. "When my partner passed away, I thought, 'I'm not going to ever perform again,'" Abbott says. "I was going through a really nihilistic stage of my life … One day I woke up and I was like, 'Oh, nothing matters.'" Perhaps unexpectedly, it was a feeling that propelled her forwards. "Some people might think that [thinking nothing matters] is a sad realisation but it's actually very freeing." In the past, Abbott had been overwhelmed by feelings of self-doubt. So, when Virginia Gay suggested Abbott make a cabaret show while she was deep in her "nihilistic phase", she thought, "Why not?" "Because, in 100 years, no one's gonna remember if it was good or if it was bad," she says. Abbott decided to play a collection of country songs on acoustic guitar about life and death. "I have things to say now," she says. "[Writing this cabaret] I've been able to get a lot of my thoughts out there in a creative way. And I've been able to get back to my creative roots, and I've picked up my guitar again, and I'm singing songs that make me happy." Bad Hand soon expanded from a "country cabaret" to something featuring all the styles of music she enjoys, from musical theatre and country to pop and Australian rock. Think Rodgers and Hammerstein, but also Hunters & Collectors, with a little bit of Kasey Chambers and Tina Arena mixed in. And a song from the soundtrack to Twisters. "The songs that are in my cabaret have been chosen for a particular reason: because they now have a very tremendous impact on me. And they have had an impact on me through this horrific year, and have helped me grieve," she says. "You try to find meaning behind loss, because if it doesn't mean anything, then, what's it for?"
News.com.au
22-06-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Sydney dumpster diver exposes ‘sad reality' as tonnes of food goes to landfill
A Sydney dumpster diver has revealed the huge extent of food wastage in the city, after collecting thousands of dollars of unwanted groceries. Matthew* has been dumpster diving for years, but says he rarely collects food for himself. Instead, the good Samaritan leaves boxes full of groceries found in nearby supermarket bins out the front of his Enfield home, in Sydney's inner west. His only request – neighbours only 'take what they need'. Matthew told NewsWire he is continually amazed at just how much food goes to waste from some of the country's biggest supermarkets. 'Damaged stock is the most annoying thing I see in supermarket bins, especially when there is nothing wrong with the actual product,' he said. 'Say for example a supermarket receives a case of Coke or jam or pasta sauce but only two cans or three jars have broken. They throw the whole case away, it doesn't matter if the rest of the stock is fine. 'Eggs is another one … they are throwing out cartons of eggs about a month before the best before date, yes some are cracked but I have seen plenty of good ones.' Produce such as fruits and vegetables are also being thrown out at a startling rate, Matthew said. 'You know those mesh bags of oranges … they would throw the whole bag out even if only one is bad … but the rest are fine,' he said. However, on his search for groceries amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, Matthew says he was startled to discover that more and more supermarkets have begun locking up their bins. 'Pretty much everywhere are locking their bins … two of my local spots are not locked,' he said, adding the amount of usable stuff being thrown out is 'mad'. But while Matthew says he is glad to help those in need in his community, Australian Charity OzHarvest says the act is a 'sad reflection' of how much good food is still needlessly going to waste. 'We currently rescue 300 tonnes of food a week from over 2,500 businesses across the country,' a spokesman told NewsWire. The charity added they are 'committed to working directly with as many food businesses as possible to make sure that edible food is donated and delivered directly and safely to people in need'. The risks While tonnes of food every week is being wasted across the country, supermarket giants are warning the practice of dumpster diving itself comes with 'significant risks'. 'While food found in dumpster bins might look edible, it's not fit for human consumption,' a Coles spokesman told NewsWire. 'There is significant health risks associated with consuming food from dumpster bins, as anything that is not donated to food rescue organisations like SecondBite has been put there as it's deemed unsuitable for sale or donation due to being past its use by date or spoiled.' The supermarket giant added that from a 'physical safety perspective', they 'strongly discourage' the act, given the height of bins located outside of supermarkets, and the fact they are 'often located in or around loading bays with trucks and large vehicles moving in and out of these bays'. Woolworths also echoed this sentiment, telling NewsWire the act is inherently unsafe. Both supermarkets, however, are in collaboration with charities to help ensure much needed food gets to people who may be struggling. Coles partner with SecondBite and Foodbank, and in 2024 donated more than 20,000 tonnes of food — the equivalent of over 39 million meals — to support food relief efforts all across Australia. Meanwhile, Woolworths partner with both OzHarvest and Foodbank and in 2024, the Woolworth's group diverted 80 per cent of it's food waste from landfill, and donated the equivalent of more than 36 million meals to our hunger relief partners. Legalities But not only are desperate Australians subjecting themselves to health risks while dumpster diving, they may also land themselves in trouble for the act. NSW Police said a person 'may be committing an offence' such as trespass or stealing, if they were accessing private property or a secure bin. Woolworths Group have policies in place which requires any external bins managed by a store to be locked. Matthew himself says he has been threatened in the past by security, once being warned he'd receive a $1000 fine from the council, and was made to put everything back. A 'symptom of housing costs' But despite potential health and legal risks, thousands of desperate Australians feel they have been left with no other option. Wayside Chapel Pastor and CEO, Jon Owen said the trend highlights the 'resilience of people' in 'impossible situations'. 'This isn't about choice – it's about people being forced into survival mode because our systems are failing them. These are our neighbours, often with jobs, who simply can't afford both rent and food,' he told NewsWire. 'While people are forced to search through bins, we're throwing away tons of perfectly good food daily. The scandal isn't that people are dumpster diving – it's that we allow this level of waste alongside this level of need.' Dumpster diving is a' symptom of housing costs pushing people beyond survival mode', Mr Owen explained. 'We need better food rescue programs, rent caps, and increased social housing. People shouldn't have to risk their safety and dignity searching through rubbish for food.' 'Our community meals serve an average of around 1000 people weekly – no questions asked, with dignity. But we know many more are going hungry rather than seeking help due to shame.'
