Michael Riley (film maker) comes to Leichhardt. At age 22 he has decided to come to Sydney out of boredom and to get away from the small-minded attitudes he finds out bush. If he had remained there, he reflects, he would have been straight on the dole and living in a housing commission house. Living nearby in Sydney are Linda Burney, and Lynnette Riley. While he has heard of some families who come to stay in Sydney but only remain a week, he decides to remain in Sydney for quite a few years before returning to Moree or Dubbo. His Aunty Rita lives in Leichhardt and has brought up her family there. He visits the Redfern Hotel from time to time but ‘it was very rough though’. He recalls that almost everybody went home (to rural NSW) before Christmas. (Plater 166).