(We) can do better

In this issue: VICTORIAN ELECTION; CLIFFORD HAYES NOT RE-ELECTED TO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL; LESSONS FROM THE ELECTION FOR PLANNING DEMOCRACY; SPEECH TO PROTECTORS OF PUBLIC LANDS AGM; SPEECH TO NORTH EAST LINK RALLY; WIN OVER VICSMART CRAZINESS; MIAMI HOTEL WEST MELBOURNE – DEVELOPERS BEHAVING BADLY; RESIDENTS SAY IN PLANNING – MICHAEL BUXTON; RESIDENTS SAY IN PLANNING – CITY OF MELBOURNE CONSULTATION RULES; SAVE WESTERNPORT WOODLANDS; PROTECTING NATIONAL PARKS FROM OVERDEVELOP

John Menadue might be a bit before the time of some of you here, but he is very heavy duty. He was the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet – Australia’s top bureaucrat – during the Prime Ministership of both Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser. Nowadays he writes a Public Policy Journal called Pearls and Irritations.

At Woodford Folk Festival, 28 December 2022, Prime Minister Albanese spoke about how democracies all over the world are coming ‘under attack from a whole range of corrosive, insidious forces’ and that ‘no-one is immune’ (see Appendix 2 below). He also said that by next year there will be an indigenous voice in parliament.

My name is Ian Hundley and I very much appreciate the opportunity to say a few words this morning. I campaign against the North East Link principally as a member of the Stop North East Link Alliance. As Greg and Kelvin have highlighted, canopy tree cover in Melbourne is in a critical state.  An urban forest with about 30% cover is central to offsetting the effects of climate change. The annualized loss of 1-1.5% in canopy cover that is now occurring is alarming.

Doctor Monique Ryan, the independent MP for the Victorian federal seat of Kooyong, is critical of the Victorian state government's decision to restrict accesss to PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests.

Donate via Paypal at [email protected]. Canadian journalist Eva Bartlett previously reported on Syria's ongoing resistance to the terrorist invasion which started in March 2011. (This war, sadly still continues in December 2022 as Syria remains the brunt of vicious sanctions at the hands of the US government and its allies.) Since March 2022, Eva has been reporting from the Donetsk region in what was the eastern region of Ukraine.

Former PM John Howard's latest book, The Menzies Era, is not as you might expect, an exercise in right wing propaganda, or at least not overtly, but an historical account which jolts the mind back to things forgotten or chronologically misplaced, due to the passage of time.

Update, 9/2/23 : An evil man will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over ashes." As shown in the RTD (Russia Today Documentary channel) video embedded below, the Ukrainian army, presumably under the orders of President Volodymr Zelensky, has, since September 2022, been firing artillery shel

The theft of Syrian oil by US forces illegally occupying Syria, and the US-NATO backed destruction of infrastructure and economy, have left Syrians in extreme danger of dying from cold and starvation this winter. Before the war Syria, which is the seat of one of the earliest civilisations, had a healthy economy and was host to many refugees from neighboring states.

Update 7/12/22: See also Pentagon Papers whistleblower reveals that he also committed the 'offence' for which Assange has been indicted.

Every Friday at Sydney Town Hall, this group continues to stand up for Julian Assange. Stirring speeches about Australia's whistleblowers and Australia's involvement in war-crimes, Albanese's failure towards Assange, our crocodile tears for the prisoners of other regimes, but not for Julian Assange.

As the embedded YouTube video below shows, yesterday, on 30 November 2022, in the House of Representatives, during question time , Dr Monique Ryan, the independent member for the north-eastern Melbourne metropolition seat of Kooyong, pointed out to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that only political intervention will free Julian Assange.

There are two critical facts which, to me, don't seem to have been taken into account by many of those, both here and overseas, who are fighting for Julian Assange's freedom. Had these facts been understood and then acted upon, I believe that Julian Assange would be free today or, at worst, our prospects of freeing him in the near future would be much greater than what is now the case.

Next week, both the House and the Senate are sitting. We must demand that, this time, its gag on discussion about Julian Assange be lifted.

Dr. Kathy McInnes addresses Port Phillip Conservation Council in Victoria, Australia.

From The Orangutan Project: On Wednesday 9 November members of the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) in East Kalimantan rescued a tiny baby orangutan from East Kutai district in East Kalimantan. They handed the infant over to the Bornean Orangutan Rescue Alliance (BORA) so she could receive urgent medical care in the BORA Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre.

After John Howard followed up on the Kennett-led destruction of state awards, with his Corporations and Work Choices legislation,[1] the floodgates were opened for mass import of cheap labour.  Before that, it simply did not pay to import cheap labour to Australia, because it was too hard for employers to escape the enforcement of industry awards at State, and, to a lesser extent, Federal level.  It was for this reason that Australia had, 'til then, escaped the widespread scourg

Summary From https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r6941.  We have only changed the layout here, to make the contents easier to read.

The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 summary states it:

Amends the:

Labor and Liberal MPs voted to quash a Motion by Clifford Hayes to clean up political donations in Victoria, proving their dependency on the flimsy and corrupt status quo. The Motion was defeated in the Legislative Council in May.

Sustainable Australia MP Clifford Hayes commented,

“Once again, the major parties have shown their true colours and proven they are totally dependent on Victoria’s flimsy and corrupt political donation regime.”

The following is an excerpt from the Guardian, 14/03/2022, pertaining to Premier Daniel Andrews. Andrews also suggested the “great Australian dream” of owning a home was less important to younger generations, especially given the increasing cost of property – the median price of a home in Melbourne is now $1.1m.

It is extremely frustrating and disappointing that the Government has used its numbers on the Committee to suppress this crucial inquiry into Victoria’s planning system and conveniently palm off embarrassing hearings until after the state election. It is obvious that this Government doesn’t want any verbal evidence, which would be heard by the press, presented to the inquiry in an election year because the evidence given will be a dire indictment on their leadership.

• Landmark new report calls for Australia to ‘stand on our own two feet’ and ‘chart our own course’ in foreign policy
• The preparation for war is all too evident but we must instead work urgently for peace
• IPAN National Conference and Inquiry Report Launch, 22-24th November, 2022 in Canberra

Wildlife advocacy initiative Defend the Wild has called on the Andrews Government to halt the killing of Victoria’s threatened dingoes after harrowing footage of dingoes being trapped and shot obtained by the group was revealed on the ABC’s 7.30 Report last night.

This article points to the utter failure of Australia's parliamentary system to deal with Julian Assange's predicament and the associated public concern.

How much is a Koala worth? $600. We wish we were making this up but this is what you can pay per Koala to offset impacting their habitat. Where does the money go? Not to the animal rescuers who are picking up the pieces.

Australia's best environmental journalist Michael Dahlstrom (Yahoo) has today written something that pretty much shocked us. Property developers can pay money and absolve themselves of guilt. That money doesn't go to saving those animals. It's an "offset"

Australia's high density buildings are not designed to mitigate the spread of a virus as they have poor air circulation, insufficient balconies, and are usually designed for people who are away all day and only home to sleep.   Our cities do not have enough open space areas for residents in high density apartments to escape to, yet we are still inundated with business and media statements extolling the benefits of population growth that can be accommodated in ever higher densitie