From #Watergate to #Ashbygate: A review of “Ashbygate” the book, by Joan Evatt @Boeufblogginon

A few weeks ago Ross Jones and Dave Donovan, of Independent Australia, sent me messages asking me to review Ross’s book on the Ashbygate saga. Despite being as crook as Rookwood I was more than happy to agree, and in due course a copy appeared in my letterbox. I was in the middle of reading […]

Money has swamped Qld politics, and that endangers democracy: @Graeme_Orr #qldvotes comment

Money makes the world go round.  That’s a truism in a market economy.   The promise of democracy – one vote, one person, one value – ought to balance that.   But what if money makes the political world go round? Nothing less than the fate of electoral democracy is at stake if we let money swamp […]

Rural Victoria rising up against #csg for #VicVotes, by #Indivotes campaigner @camklose

[clear]About a year ago the rural electorate of Indi had just about turfed out their local member, Sophie Mirabella in the shock result of the 2013 election. It was a result that not even the most optimistic political punter could have predicted. A huge community surge that wiped out a senior Liberal frontbencher in a […]

Innumerate or deceptive: @adropex dissects @TheIPA ‘report’ into ABC coal coverage #leardblockade

Innumerate Ignorance or Calculated Deception It is unfortunate that the IPA, and in particular James Paterson, did not take note of the ‘scholarship’ referred to in their recent report of the ABC’s coverage of ‘Australia’s energy choices’ and apply it to their own publication. It would undoubtedly have saved them the embarrassment of making public […]

Selling out ethical journalism: @journlaw on @theage secret recordings #springst

[clear] It is a sad day when senior political figures steal a journalist’s recording device and destroy its contents, as we have been told happened at this year’s Victorian Labor conference. But it is an even sadder day when we hear a major newspaper – The Age – justifying a senior reporter secretly recording their […]

Senate Bingo! The @sarah_capper column

A whole new class of players joined the Upper House this month, and with a record number of cross-benchers – 18, including the Greens – there will be deals-a-plenty and the “spin cycle” on overdrive. Cards will be kept close to chests; cards will be put out on the table; and, as the last week has shown, […]

Then they came for the farmers… #SPC #leardblockade

[clear] By Alison Parkes  6th February 2014 Two recent issues have been in the news lately concerning rural and regional communities – the impending closure of SPC and the Leardblockade. People in capital cities, on social media and old media talk about thinks like SPC or live export or another mine as if they are […]

#SPC Ardmona isn’t just a factory – @AmyFeldtmann memories

[clear] By  Amy Feldtmann  @AmyFeldtmann 2nd February 2014 Originally published at amyfeldtmann.com I am a graduate of Dookie Primary School No. 1527, where there was a grand total of five students in my grade. All up, our school roll-call peaked at about 60 in my later years. The primary school was on a block so large […]

#Griffithvotes citizen journo @Griffithelects live twitter reports of Libs ‘group call’ and campaign launch

[clear] By Jan Bowman @GriffithElects Mass Teleconference in Griffith On Wednesday February 29 the LNP ran a mass virtual ‘town hall’ teleconference with voters in Griffith. Apparently Labor used this technology recently in Griffith to link party members with Opposition leader Bill Shorten and is planning something similar in the last week of the campaign. […]

Margo’s live twitter report from #leardblockade Days 5 and 6

Storify by The Geek Tue, Jan 21 2014 01:01:12 Headline? Margo’s live twitter report from #leardblockade Day 4 to 6 Add to story or collection Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Pinterest Share on Google+ Share on Linkedin Share by email Gomeroi people to ask minister Hunt for stop work after miners deface […]