"WHERE IS KEW’S CIVIC PRIDE?"
“The spectacle here presented is not reproduced from a slum area, as readers might suppose to be the case, but is actually a photograph of the rear portion of the shops in the main thoroughfare of a highly respectable suburb. This unsightly collection of back-yard shanties and antiquated living quarters forms the rear of the shops on the south side of High-street, Kew. The Kew council has declared the places to be unfit for human habitation. Notice has been served on the tenants to vacate the premises, and the owners have been directed to bring the buildings into conformity with the requirements of the Health Act. But judging from the above illustration, the council should have gone further and taken action in the direction of having such unsightly and unhealthy structures totally demolished. More unwholesome surroundings would be hard to find in the metropolis, and the fact that they form part of the city’s main business centre is a blot on the city of Kew.” - The Age