Tag Archives
Typhoid strikes Manus
BY ALANA LEVENE A suspected outbreak of typhoid fever has struck refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island, prompting renewed calls to bring those detained there to Australia. Two men have been flown from the island to Port Moresby Hospital, and their rooms were sterilised, sources told the AAP. The cases highlighted the squalid health […]
Measles defy record vaccination
BY ALANA LEVENE A flurry of measles outbreaks could make 2019 Australia’s second-highest year of reported cases since the late 1990s, according to government health officials. Australia is on track to reach or surpass 2014’s nationwide high of 339 cases, according to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. More cases were recorded in the first […]
Rushcutters Bay on the nose
BY ALANA LEVENE Sydney Water is urging residents to watch what they’re flushing down their toilets after a recent sewer blockage caused wastewater to drain into Rushcutters Bay, blocking the area to swimmers for weeks. This is the fourth choke in the in Paddington area since the beginning of November, according to a Sydney Water […]
Honouring Hank
BY ALANA LEVENE Fifteen years ago, Hank, a homeless man, turned up at the Footpath Library’s mobile site in Woolloomooloo. He cracked a cheeky grin and jokingly asked the library’s founder, Sarah Garnett, if she had any colouring books. The two became fast friends. Last week, at Garnett’s request, Deputy Lord Mayor Linda Scott moved […]
Parking meter plans suspended in Paddington
BY ALANA LEVENE The City of Sydney Council is putting off plans to install parking meters in Paddington and Darlinghurst due to a unified and forceful resistance from local residents and business owners. Councillors voted unanimously on 8 April to reject a proposal from the traffic committee to install paid meters along sections of Greens […]
Backlash prompts review of therapies
BY ALANA LEVENE The Liberal National Government announced on Sunday it will reconsider a ban on private health cover for more than a dozen natural therapies — less than a week after the ban’s implementation set off an intense backlash. The Department of Health decided to stop funding private health insurance cover for 16 natural […]
ANZ to shutter Oxford St branch
BY ALANA LEVENE In 2014, 10 glammed-up “GAYTMS” sprouted up across Sydney as part of the ANZ Bank’s campaign for Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. ATMs adorned with dazzling rainbow rhinestones and sequin-studded patterns lit up social media and showcased ANZ’s commitment to the LGBTIQA community. Next month, the bank will shutter its branch […]
Fort SCEGGS raises concerns
BY ALANA LEVENE Darlinghurst residents are launching objections to a local school’s multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan, claiming that the upgraded facilities would overshadow their neighbourhood and undermine the community’s Victorian heritage. SCEGGS Darlinghurst, a K-12 elite girls’ school, is seeking approval from the state Department of Planning and Environment for its $45 million 2040 Masterplan. The […]
Public housing pushed out
BY ALANA LEVENE Over the past five years, Barney Gardner has watched his Miller’s Point community slowly fall apart. The 69-year-old retired wharf worker knew his working-class suburb had little chance of survival when in 2014, the government announced the intended sale of 300 harbourfront public housing properties. Tenants in Millers Point, Dawes Point, and […]
