By Mark Anning It was interesting to see the opinion piece written by Peter Reith for The Drum – Fracking scare campaigns threaten our prosperity – especially considering Reith is a paid political lobbyist and chairman of the Victorian Government’s task force on the eastern gas market. “The public debate is soon mired in myriad false claims, partly […]
Six years in a dust storm: life near a coal mine Aileen Harrison reports
October 28, 2013
By Aileen Harrison* In April 1998 we moved into our dream home at Highland Plains, near Acland, Queensland, starting a tourist attraction with bus loads of tourists arriving to see our alpacas, as well as our craft and memorabilia display. Alas for us, the Acland open cut coal mine started up in August 2002. We […]
Groundwater: out of sight, not out of mind: @molessarah reports
October 24, 2013
By Sarah Moles Very wise people have said some crucially important things about water. For me, Leonardo Da Vinci summed it up best with: “Water is the driving force of all nature”. W.H. Auden comes a close second: “Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.” Given its essential place in supporting life, […]
Conflicts of interest, Tara data and baseline studies: Katherine Marchment reports
October 24, 2013
[clear] By Katherine Marchment CSG is suspected to have negative impacts on the environment (water, air and soil), as well as economically and on human and animal health. The information that can be accessed about this is too abundant for one article. Therefore, for the purposes of this article, I will concentrate only on the […]
New No Fibs citizen journalism project: The CSG social movement
October 7, 2013
By Margo Kingston 7 October 2013 I knew I wanted to do journalism differently after experiencing the disconnect between the reality on the ground and the closed world of insider political reporting while covering Pauline Hanson’s 1998 election campaign. My idea was to live in the north western NSW town of Bourke to report rural and […]
Trust, it’s not just about ‘them’: Forde wrap by @StephanieDale22
September 5, 2013
[clear] By Stephanie Dale 5 September 2013 The other day a smart, savvy, engaged woman I know told me she plans to vote informal on September 7 – her decision has as much to do with media coverage as it does with politics. In short: ” Can’t bring myself to vote for Tony Abbott, can’t forgive […]
Beattie Surprise: @stephaniedale22 reports
September 3, 2013
By Stephanie Dale 3 September 2013 We are in the dying days of the 2013 election campaign, a campaign that has boasted a handful of idiot policy announcements but in five weeks just one true surprise – Peter Beattie. It was a laugh out loud moment for the nation when the former Queensland Premier (1998-2007) appeared […]
The crocodile is rising: Iris Ray Nunn reports from the Pilliga
July 18, 2013
By Iris Ray Nunn An historical event in the East Pilliga forest on the weekend saw farmers, environmentalists and overseas visitors come together with local Gomeroi Elders and their descendants to learn about the sacred significance of the Leard and Pilliga (Billiga) forests, and why it is of vital importance to protect these sites […]
My people’s petition for Abbott to reveal his other IPA policies
April 15, 2013
By Tom Cummings (@cyenne40) April 15, 2013 The Australian Labor Party is often accused of being at the beck and call of the unions. Of course there is a decent element of truth in this, in so far as they both tend to focus on workers rather than corporations, and the historical links between Australia’s unions and […]
