Journalist Michael Burge interviewed Carol Sparks — mayor of Glen Innes Severn Shire Council in the NSW New England region — in 2019, before this week’s bushfires that have caused multiple fatalities and property losses, and continue to burn in conditions widely described as “unprecedented”. Here’s a glimpse of where Clr Sparks’ principled stand about climate […]
Climate heresy in the high country: @burgewords comments on #NewEnglandVotes
February 22, 2019
To turn this region into a true believer, New England voters need to decide if we want fossil fuel extraction in the energy plan. WHEN state member for the NSW seat of Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall put pen to paper in favour of renewable electricity generation in mid-2018, the news made barely a ripple in […]
From this day backwards: @burgewords on the long journey to Australia’s first lesbian marriage
March 22, 2018
Here we were on the other side of the world not being able to have clarified which of our relationships was valid. WHEN Australian same-sex couples were finally granted equal access to the Marriage Act in December 2017, the widespread expression of relief was tempered by a growing awareness of a legal minefield. Brisbane couple […]
Barnaby Joyce out of place: @burgewords comments on #NewEnglandVotes
February 16, 2018
The man who once had a home base at Tamworth, but now seems to belong nowhere. AS I approached the polling station at the Tenterfield Memorial Hall on by-election day in December 2017, I suspected Barnaby Joyce would put in an early appearance. If Mr Joyce was going to cover New England glad-handing and holding […]
Bad fairy at the wedding: @burgewords on the curse of #MarriageEquality activism
November 16, 2017
I’D like to briefly hold your attention in this short period before marriage equality is legislated in Australia, because nobody will ever give a second thought to the years of struggle that led to this week’s resounding public vote for same-sex dignity. The concept of marriage equality first hit me like a bullet in 2004, […]
The hate that dare not speak its name: @burgewords comments on #VoteNo to #MarriageEquality
September 21, 2017
It would make for a better, fairer and more entertaining match if #TeamNo owned the term ‘homophobes’. AUSTRALIA is fighting a very old battle. It’s been Trojan-Horsed into every household in the form of the Turnbull Government’s postal survey on federal marriage law. Like all wars, the propaganda is rife. We’re being asked to vote […]
#VoteYes in the #MarriageEquality survey, just don’t expect a unifying moment: @burgewords comments
September 8, 2017
A sad, embarrassing uncle – let’s call him Malcolm – is trying to get us to pull his cracker, but we know what’s coming. A PUBLIC vote on marriage equality is delivering what some Australians have craved for years: an excuse to publicly trash LGBTIQ dignity. The usual pundits are hailing the Coalition’s survey as […]
No country for older women: @burgewords explores @Foxtel casting mystery
April 20, 2017
The strategy behind the casting of younger women will take some explaining. IN February, Foxtel and Fremantle Media Australia announced the casting of an eagerly anticipated television adaptation of Picnic at Hanging Rock, Joan Lindsay’s 1967 Australian novel about a group of schoolgirls and their governess who go missing at a local rock formation on Valentine’s Day, 1900. This fictional story was hauntingly filmed in […]
#MarriageEquality in 2019: @burgewords says just you wait and see
March 17, 2017
After you’ve done all the lobbying, it seems what you have to do in Australia to achieve LGBTIQ equality, is wait. MARRIAGE Equality will be legislated in Australia no sooner than 2019. I know many will fly into a rage about that assertion, but let’s get real for a few moments: the current Coalition will never independently instigate […]
The killing of the plebiscite: @burgewords comments on #MarriageEquality
November 7, 2016
Our position, and the position the LGBTI community wants us to advocate, is very simple: no plebiscite under any circumstances, just a free vote. THERE has been no progress on marriage equality in Australia since long before former Prime Minister Tony Abbott tricked his moderate frontbenchers into a marathon joint party room meeting with the hard-right National Party in […]
