Author Archives
Abused in the workplace: councillor speaks out
By Melissa Brooks I have been a councillor since September 2012, when I was elected to represent the community of Marrickville. At council meetings I face verbal abuse week after week. Last week we were discussing a fairly contentious land use issue with a long history. During the course of the debate, a fellow female […]
Vale Neville Wran
OBITUARY by Darcy Byrne This week we say goodbye to the greatest Balmain boy of all. As a working class kid growing up in Balmain in the '80s, the name Neville Wran meant many things to me. For local people, especially those whose families had been there for generations, Wran personified all that was good […]
Balmain’s game of thrones
OPINION by James Morrow A fortnight ago Tony Abbott launched his full employment scheme for knights and dames, leading to paroxysms of hair-tearing, head-scratching, and cries of “anachronism!”. But really, was he that far off the mark? As modern and right-on as we consider ourselves to be in Sydney, our local politics has more in […]
They think we doth protest too much
OPINION Three protesters were arrested in Melbourne defending their democratic right to protest following a review of the Summary Offences Act in the Victorian upper house that had been passed on March 11, 2014. The Victorian Bill was being debated in parliament when a group of around 20 protesters - including those engaged in an […]
The forgotten violence victims
OPINION - Nicole Doughty On Saturday, a young woman in Melbourne’s suburbs died after an argument with her partner turned violent. This news may not have caught your attention, because on Saturday all eyes were focused on the tragic death of another young person from a violent assault: Daniel Christie, the latest victim of alcohol-fuelled […]
End blame game and let evidence speak
OPINION - Alex Greenwich There is growing community concern about the disturbing instances of alcohol-fuelled violence and we urgently need to develop evidence-based solutions by working with doctors, families, businesses, police and residents. Sydney’s problem is not unique. Cities across the country and the world are trying to curb the proliferation of binge drinking and […]
Vale Debra Berryman
OBITUARY by Elizabeth Elenius Debra Berryman, a Pyrmont resident for nearly forty years, passed away on New Years Day. What a woman! Debra was an enterprising East Ender who moved to Bulwara Road with her husband Ray in 1976 and worked tirelessly for the community. She would tackle anyone to get things done and her […]
“Mandela inspired all of us…he brought us hope”
I went to South Africa in 1984 on a three-month holiday but ended up staying 10 years and making my life there. As a Sydneysider, when I first landed I found South Africa incredibly confronting, with its entrenched discrimination and segregation. Apartheid was then still very much in place, with the Group Areas Act forcibly […]
Opinion: Privacy Hypocrisy
From Prime Minister Julia Gillard to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, the government's rhetoric surrounding the media inquiry has remained consistent: it is not an attack on News Limited, but a necessary measure to ensure the protection of our right to privacy.
OPINION: NSW Budget forecast
Black hole. Noun - An area of space-time with a gravitational field so intense that its escape velocity is equal to or exceeds the speed of light. Or, as the new State Government would have us believe, the New South Wales treasury. The insatiable black hole that is the NSW treasury is to be offered […]
