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Org Watch NSW - The last 50 years...

Zhent

Leakus Maximus
Well now, here is something I have been working on, on and off for ages now. Mostly its been sitting on my hard drive not doing anything because I never got around to finishing it properly and publishing it.

Not really sure how to describe it, I've completely forgotten what my original vision was suppose to be for it. I guess you could consider it a 'historical database' of Scientology properties/activities in Sydney/NSW.

Theres too much data for it to fit in a forum post so you will have to download the pdf off-site here - http://www.mediafire.com/?elyzwmwhjzn
EDIT: I figured out how to attach documents to a post, the same thing is attached below if you prefer downloading here.


But thats not all, to make this more interesting I've turned some of the data into an interactive map!
Preview:
rruowj.jpg


You can check that out on Google Maps here - Scientology Sydney and NSW - Google Maps
The map also contains additional data and notes not in the pdf such as info about scientology lecture tours from the 1950's. (who remembers Marcus Tooley?)


The main reason I'm throwing this out publicly is because I need input from the ex-scn community.
I've got this data from all over the place, from newspaper archives like the Sydney Morning Herald and 'The Auditor' to government databases like ASIC and of course good ol' Google, a lot of Google in fact.
But all that is not the same as someone who was actually there IN Scientology and knew this stuff first hand.

There may be errors (and missing data) in this so I would like so help checking it over and completing it :)

A few things in particular I'm interested in:
-Is the Mission at Five dock still active? And who is running it?
-Anyone know when the org moved from Darlinghurst to Surry Hills in the 1960's?
-What happened to the Mission in Chinatown?
-What went on at 61-65 Wenworth Avenue (Surry Hills) during the 80's and 90's?
-There was a Scientology daycare center at Darling point in the 1980's, anyone know the address or any info about this place?
-Has anyone heard anything about Narconon or Applied Scholastics (aside from Athena school) operating in NSW lately?

Any other input concerning Scientology locations/activities or general help would be much appreciated as well :yes:
 

Attachments

  • Scn_Sydney_21-2-10.pdf
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Carmel

Crusader
Oooh, interesting stuff for the likes of us who were around in Sydney....Good stuff! (still downloading it, so haven't seen it yet, but am looking forward to it).

Good on ya, Zhent! :thumbsup:

- Re the Five Dock mission.....Peter and Hilary Shead started it and were running it, and yeah, apparently it's still going, but someone else has been running it for some time now (I can't recall who). Since 1980 when I got in, it was the only mission I ever heard of knew of in Sydney, that ever had a regular gig going. Plenty of other missions were bought, but they didn't get off the ground.

- Wentworth Ave was the FOLO/CLO - also New Era Publications had a different premises on Wentworth Ave at one point. I don't know the addresses, just know where they were.

- It wasn't a "daycare centre" as such at Darling Point....It was where the SO nannies minded the SO kids, and I think it was on New South Head Rd, Rushcutters Bay. Someone else will know. Anyway, to my knowledge, there was only *one* of this nature, and it was within the SO berthing building, which used to be a motel, I think.

- To my knowledge, there's no Narconon operating in NSW these days, and there hasn't been since the one in Lower Mangrove shut down.

There are plenty of Sydney people here on ESMB, so no doubt you'll get a stack of info. I'm looking forward to having a geezer to fill in the blanks pre 1980. I'll forward you any additional info I have on post '80 that may not already be included, when I check out the doc.

Cheers, Zhent! :)
 

Feral

Rogue male
Good one Zhent.

That big list of offices could give a bloke the impression that there is something more than nothing happening in Sydney.

Believe me, the biggest thing that's happened in the last two years are the Anon raids.

Most of those "practitioners" listed under ABLE have other jobs, some would never have delivered anything, registering is ABLE'S idea of having a presence.

I heard from an ex in Sydney that both the Five Dock mission and the Leichhardt one have moved from their expensive commercial premises AFAIK back to the mission holders homes. In a word that means they're gone unless they get a walk in. Those missions have cost the holders an absolute fortune and to my knowledge have never made a Scientologist.

The Athena school is a tiny school with around 30 kids I think. apart from that nothing is happening in the ABLE area.

So, apart from the AO, Hercules st., a couple of field auditors and the Athena school there is practically nothing going on in Sydney.

The rest is smoke and mirrors.
 

scooter

Gold Meritorious Patron
Interesting list, Zhent - a true walk down memory lane.

There are no current Narconon listings on your list that are active - they'd all folded before I took over Narconon ANZO in 2006.

All of the ApS tutors have listed their private addresses. I'm not even sure if they're still doing anything - most weren't doing much even when they first registered. Plus the Petersham address was where the ED Aps ANZO was living and working from in 2007. Shredder would probably have better, more current info on this than me.

Basically it's more of the smoke and mirrors that we've all come to know and loathe from this cult - the vast majority of its groups have retreated to Dundas in reality.
 

RSG

Patron
Wow, Zhent, you're a legend! This sort of data really shows how much they've had to move around and close things down... have you posted it on WWP yet?
 

Feral

Rogue male
So it doesn't get lost I'd like to point out that there is a reason that the two missions packed up and retreated to the homes of the mission holders in the last year.

That reason is Anonymous.

Now they can sit idle with no fixed costs or rent to pay and be ignored by the holders. The mission IC can scream down the phone to the mission holders answering machine to get the stats up and threaten sec checks till the poor bastard turns blue in the face.

They will never get going again.
 

Panda Termint

Cabal Of One
Well, Feral, there's possibly another reason too.
John Duignan mentioned it in his book, The Complex.
On page 164, discussing the Hubbard method of statistical management of the CofS he says,

"Despite the Founder's insistence that an accurate statistical analysis would solve all the organisational problems and cause a huge boom in income and delivery, the real reason these little churches remained impoverished was simply that the general public did not, never had and never would like Scientology."

I think that is as good as it gets in terms of explaining these things. :)
 
Missions not there anymore:

I'f this helps:
These are all listed on the church website. I know for a fact they are not there any more as I've been to each location in person.

Spokane WA
Pordenone Italy
Mission of Orange CA
 

Zhent

Leakus Maximus
Thanks for the replies, some useful data here :)

- Re the Five Dock mission.....Peter and Hilary Shead started it and were running it, and yeah, apparently it's still going, but someone else has been running it for some time now (I can't recall who). Since 1980 when I got in, it was the only mission I ever heard of knew of in Sydney, that ever had a regular gig going. Plenty of other missions were bought, but they didn't get off the ground.

- Wentworth Ave was the FOLO/CLO - also New Era Publications had a different premises on Wentworth Ave at one point. I don't know the addresses, just know where they were.

- It wasn't a "daycare centre" as such at Darling Point....It was where the SO nannies minded the SO kids, and I think it was on New South Head Rd, Rushcutters Bay. Someone else will know. Anyway, to my knowledge, there was only *one* of this nature, and it was within the SO berthing building, which used to be a motel, I think.

Good to hear about Five Dock, unlike Leichhardt its not operating out of a residential address, and since I haven't heard anything about I thought it might of closed up recently.
Also good to know it was the FOLO/CLO there on Wentworth street, and yep I also have the NEP listing in my pdf, it was right across the road!

I called it a 'daycare center' as the Sydney Morning Herald article I found was suggesting it was a registered and licensed Scientology daycare center. The article was about it being shutdown. :)


Good one Zhent.

That big list of offices could give a bloke the impression that there is something more than nothing happening in Sydney..

I heard from an ex in Sydney that both the Five Dock mission and the Leichhardt one have moved from their expensive commercial premises AFAIK back to the mission holders homes. In a word that means they're gone unless they get a walk in. Those missions have cost the holders an absolute fortune and to my knowledge have never made a Scientologist.

I think a good part of this project is simply showing what a tangled web Scientology has woven across NSW throughout the years, and despite the appearances of activity the field has pretty much slowly collapsed, even before Anonymous hit the scenes.

The Leichhardt mission used to be on Norton St, but that also appears to have been a residential address. However strangely enough the Five dock mission USED to be at a residential address but it then moved to a commercial one. Unless you're suggesting they have then moved from that back to their house recently, which would be very interesting news.

There are no current Narconon listings on your list that are active - they'd all folded before I took over Narconon ANZO in 2006.

All of the ApS tutors have listed their private addresses. I'm not even sure if they're still doing anything - most weren't doing much even when they first registered. Plus the Petersham address was where the ED Aps ANZO was living and working from in 2007. Shredder would probably have better, more current info on this than me.

Basically it's more of the smoke and mirrors that we've all come to know and loathe from this cult - the vast majority of its groups have retreated to Dundas in reality.

Good to hear Narconon has pretty much been moved out of NSW, I thought it was pretty much dead.
Nearly all of those ApS listing are old and I assume dead listings. However as I noted in the pdf, a new listing for Applied scholastics has sprung up on their website in December. I tried to investigate this but when I was in Sydney I simply couldn't find 37/650 George St!! :melodramatic:

And yep, basically what I've found through my research is the groups and other ancillary units have slowly retreated back into established Scientology offices like the Dundas Facility and Sydney Org.

With any luck the Ideal Org will fail to deliver as usual and when they get kicked out of Hercules st the Sydney Org will retreat into AOSH ANZO! :omg:
Now that would be a real embarrassment.

Wow, Zhent, you're a legend! This sort of data really shows how much they've had to move around and close things down... have you posted it on WWP yet?

Other then for the discussion of 'how Scientology is shrinking' I don't see much reason to post this on WWP/elsewhere, the info here is specific and of interest mainly to those in NSW and part of the scene - those who read this subforum :yes:



Oh and a little note: Despite the hugeness of the list/project, the hardest part of all this was doing that simple list of where the Org has been in the last 50 years. Those addresses were quite difficult to track down! Heh, I even managed to find a few of the original phone numbers :coolwink:
 

Feral

Rogue male
Zhent said...

The Leichhardt mission used to be on Norton St, but that also appears to have been a residential address. However strangely enough the Five dock mission USED to be at a residential address but it then moved to a commercial one. Unless you're suggesting they have then moved from that back to their house recently, which would be very interesting news.

My friend told me that they have indeed vacated their commercial premises, I assume they have moved to a residential address but they may have closed.
 

Feral

Rogue male
Well, Feral, there's possibly another reason too.
John Duignan mentioned it in his book, The Complex.
On page 164, discussing the Hubbard method of statistical management of the CofS he says,

"Despite the Founder's insistence that an accurate statistical analysis would solve all the organisational problems and cause a huge boom in income and delivery, the real reason these little churches remained impoverished was simply that the general public did not, never had and never would like Scientology."

I think that is as good as it gets in terms of explaining these things. :)

True but since Anons began their global protests I think it went from unliked and unpopular to batshit crazy and abusive in the eyes of the public.

There were times in the last twenty years that new public could be made, I think those days are over now.
 

Happy Days

Silver Meritorious Patron
There was a Scientology daycare center at Darling point in the 1980's, anyone know the address or any info about this place?

It wasn't a "daycare centre" as such at Darling Point....It was where the SO nannies minded the SO kids, and I think it was on New South Head Rd, Rushcutters Bay. Someone else will know. Anyway, to my knowledge, there was only *one* of this nature, and it was within the SO berthing building, which used to be a motel, I think.

Mona Road Rushcutters Bay was the SO berthing till 1987 then the crew moved into rented homes in Glebe and surrounding areas.

At the time SO members were recruited with small children or had babies while in the SO and the children cared for, if you could call it that, by Nannies at the berthing site.
 

Carmel

Crusader
Regarding the HCA (Hubbard College of Administration - WISE) in Strathfield......

I set up those premises and opened it up in '95. We *kept it going* for 3 years, but it was insolvent, and I used income from other businesses (which I ran from the same premises) to cover some of the costs. :eyeroll:

When we left Sydney in '98 we handed over the licence, and all the stuff to Tim Fitzgerald who wanted to keep it going. He then ran it from his office in Leichhardt for a year or so, before *in practice* it folded.
 

Miss Pert

Silver Meritorious Patron
A few things in particular I'm interested in:
-Is the Mission at Five dock still active? And who is running it?
-Anyone know when the org moved from Darlinghurst to Surry Hills in the 1960's?
-What happened to the Mission in Chinatown?
-What went on at 61-65 Wenworth Avenue (Surry Hills) during the 80's and 90's?
-There was a Scientology daycare center at Darling point in the 1980's, anyone know the address or any info about this place?
-Has anyone heard anything about Narconon or Applied Scholastics (aside from Athena school) operating in NSW lately?

Any other input concerning Scientology locations/activities or general help would be much appreciated as well :yes:

The Five dock Misssion was still functioning when I left Syd Org inSept last year, it is set up in a building on the main drag of Five Dock and is still run by Peter Shead and his family.

The Chinatown mission just seemed to disappear, the lady that was running it, Chimmy Harris was an ANZO SO outer org trainee at Flag when I was there, as was her husband, and her daughter, maybe 12 yo (?), was at Flag also.

Narconon in Sydney went bust, I heard the person that owned the property they were on kicked them out but don't know how true that is. They'd owed the advertising company I worked for quite a substanial amount of money.

I believe Applied Scholastics is still going and is based Ultimo, and is run by a Mr Merrick, I don't know his first name, and he moved to Aus from Sth Africa a few years ago to take over.

There is also the Leichhardt mission, whose mission holder is Rohn Walker and is run by Mary Szental, a Sydney public.
 

Miss Pert

Silver Meritorious Patron
I should have read the whole post before I answered it. :duh::duh:

Leichhardt Mission moved from Norton St because the landlord was renovating the building and was going to up the rent and cut back the space available. The solution for this was for the ED, Mary, to actually buy a property that was approved for business operations in the street behind Norton St. I was a staff member at the mission for 5 years (part time) prior to being poached for the Class V. It was still in operation when I left the cult in September 09.
 

minnie

Patron with Honors
I believe Applied Scholastics is still going and is based Ultimo, and is run by a Mr Merrick, I don't know his first name, and he moved to Aus from Sth Africa a few years ago to take over.

Brendon Merrick. Really nice, intelligent guy. His intentions re APS differ somewhat from the cult's simple agenda. His dream has been to bring out the creative expression/writing ability in kids around the world. He has obviously been convinced that study tech/APS is a vehicle to achieve that.
 

scooter

Gold Meritorious Patron
...Narconon in Sydney went bust, I heard the person that owned the property they were on kicked them out but don't know how true that is. They'd owed the advertising company I worked for quite a substanial amount of money.


Not quite true - the property was owned by Tim Fitzgerald and Narconon were way behind in the rent and Tim was in financial difficulties.

He wanted to sell the property and let someone else have the job of getting rent from Narconon as he couldn't heavy us for it as he was on OT 7 at the time.

It ended up with Narconon Int, ABLE ANZO and ABLE Int being all over it then the ED Narconon Sydney and another staff member (Caron Jenkins) just moving the few remaining students to Narconon Melbourne and closing it up, conveniently blaming Tim for it all.

Oh, and they left Tim with a bill for $60,000 worth of bills that he as Chairman of the Narconon Sydney board was responsible for.

Caron Jenkins somehow got to become ED Narconon ANZO and two years after closing Narconon Sydney, re-opened it on Tim's property without Tim even being aware of it - he only found out when his wife drove up there one day and was confronted by some people asking her what was she doing on the property. Caron called it Narconon Lower Mangrove to avoid having to face the debts from the previous failure.

It lasted less than a year when a Gosford Council Health Inspector came to visit and closed it down due to gross out-hygiene in the kitchen. In all that time Tim was never paid any rent from Narconon "Lower Mangrove."

There's a lot more to this story that I need to write down for your education and entertainment someday - this is the very bare bones of it.
 

Lynn Fountain Campbell

Silver Meritorious Patron
Well now, here is something I have been working on, on and off for ages now. Mostly its been sitting on my hard drive not doing anything because I never got around to finishing it properly and publishing it.

Not really sure how to describe it, I've completely forgotten what my original vision was suppose to be for it. I guess you could consider it a 'historical database' of Scientology properties/activities in Sydney/NSW.

Theres too much data for it to fit in a forum post so you will have to download the pdf off-site here - http://www.mediafire.com/?elyzwmwhjzn
EDIT: I figured out how to attach documents to a post, the same thing is attached below if you prefer downloading here.


But thats not all, to make this more interesting I've turned some of the data into an interactive map!
Preview:
rruowj.jpg


You can check that out on Google Maps here - Scientology Sydney and NSW - Google Maps
The map also contains additional data and notes not in the pdf such as info about scientology lecture tours from the 1950's. (who remembers Marcus Tooley?)


The main reason I'm throwing this out publicly is because I need input from the ex-scn community.
I've got this data from all over the place, from newspaper archives like the Sydney Morning Herald and 'The Auditor' to government databases like ASIC and of course good ol' Google, a lot of Google in fact.
But all that is not the same as someone who was actually there IN Scientology and knew this stuff first hand.

There may be errors (and missing data) in this so I would like so help checking it over and completing it :)

A few things in particular I'm interested in:
-Is the Mission at Five dock still active? And who is running it?
-Anyone know when the org moved from Darlinghurst to Surry Hills in the 1960's?
-What happened to the Mission in Chinatown?
-What went on at 61-65 Wenworth Avenue (Surry Hills) during the 80's and 90's?
-There was a Scientology daycare center at Darling point in the 1980's, anyone know the address or any info about this place?
-Has anyone heard anything about Narconon or Applied Scholastics (aside from Athena school) operating in NSW lately?

Any other input concerning Scientology locations/activities or general help would be much appreciated as well :yes:

Thanks for doing this, Zhent. I think everybody there is doing a great job. I'm loving every minute of your protests. :clap:

Lynn
 

Miss Pert

Silver Meritorious Patron
Not quite true - the property was owned by Tim Fitzgerald and Narconon were way behind in the rent and Tim was in financial difficulties.

He wanted to sell the property and let someone else have the job of getting rent from Narconon as he couldn't heavy us for it as he was on OT 7 at the time.

It ended up with Narconon Int, ABLE ANZO and ABLE Int being all over it then the ED Narconon Sydney and another staff member (Caron Jenkins) just moving the few remaining students to Narconon Melbourne and closing it up, conveniently blaming Tim for it all.

Oh, and they left Tim with a bill for $60,000 worth of bills that he as Chairman of the Narconon Sydney board was responsible for.

Caron Jenkins somehow got to become ED Narconon ANZO and two years after closing Narconon Sydney, re-opened it on Tim's property without Tim even being aware of it - he only found out when his wife drove up there one day and was confronted by some people asking her what was she doing on the property. Caron called it Narconon Lower Mangrove to avoid having to face the debts from the previous failure.

It lasted less than a year when a Gosford Council Health Inspector came to visit and closed it down due to gross out-hygiene in the kitchen. In all that time Tim was never paid any rent from Narconon "Lower Mangrove."

There's a lot more to this story that I need to write down for your education and entertainment someday - this is the very bare bones of it.

Thanks Scooter, good to have that info.
 

Zhent

Leakus Maximus
More good info here, thanks guys.

I might do an update on my pdf soon, I've got a better understanding of the Scientology scene and its history now. (A useful thing to know)

Still a little in doubt about the Five Dock mission... Feral has said it moved/closed but Miss Pert said it was still running late last year. I'd like to go check the place out but its just too far away. Anyone in the area?
Applied Scholastics is little mystery as well, possibly it is still running in Ultimo, possibly moved to 37/650 George st per the ApS website? Perhaps I could ring up Brendon Merrick and ask him how its going. :whistling:

Oh and I would like to hear that story about Narconon some day, Scooter. Sounds like a good one.


Would anyone like to change anything on the map? We could even get creative and put up snippets of stories at the different locations. Kinda like the 'my story' forum but organised geologically on a map! :omg:
With Google the possibilities are endless. :coolwink:
 
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