Tag Archives
29 years, 437 deaths – yet no answers, no convictions and no justice
By Wendy Bacon Aboriginal families whose sons or daughters have died in custody formed a circle for a healing smoking ceremony, performed by Gadigal elder Aunty Rhonda Dixon-Grovenor at Djarrbarrgalli (the Gadigal word for ‘Domain’), during a Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney on Sunday 5 July. Protesters called for fundamental changes in the criminal […]
Starving students still waiting for NSW Govt support
By WENDY BACON On 15 May, the NSW government announced a $20 million housing and advice assistance package for international students in NSW. NSW, which has the most international students and the most expensive housing market, was the last to offer them assistance. Coming after a week of stories featuring images of hungry students queuing […]
Tenancy defenders win reprieve
By WENDY BACON A newly formed community group has stopped its first eviction in St Peters this week. The Housing Defence Coalition (HDC) has been formed to protect vulnerable tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic. New Zealand citizen ’Layla’, who recently lost her full-time job, received a call from the tenant from whom she sublets on […]
Detained refugees risk Covid-19 outbreaks
By JOHN MOYLE There is nothing like a pandemic to make us focus on our very survival but that often comes at the cost of forgetting about those such as refugees and asylum seekers, who have no voices in the community. Since the Federal Government introduced Operation Sovereign Borders in September 2013, any person attempting […]
Coalition leaves tenants swinging
By WENDY BACON On March 30 the NSW Parliament passed an emergency law granting the NSW government the power to place a moratorium on evictions. But before it can come into an effect, the government needs to introduce new regulations under existing laws. So far, the Gladys Berejiklian government has failed to take action. The […]
Greens push for renter protections
By ALLISON HORE On Tuesday 24 March, amendments by the Greens to the NSW Parliament’s COVID-19 Emergency Measures Bill were successful, ensuring protections for renters would be included in the emergency response. “This isn’t just a human rights issue: it’s a health issue. You can’t stay home to social distance without a house. You can’t […]
Abortion bill delay
BY WENDY BACON NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian caved in to pressure from opponents of abortion this week delaying a final vote in the Legislative Council until September. This is a bitter disappointment to hundreds of Pro-Choice supporters who rallied outside NSW Parliament on Tuesday morning, calling for the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill to be […]
Arrest us
By WENDY BACON This week I joined more than sixty other women on #ArrestUs in support of a bill to decriminalise abortion in NSW. All of the signatories have had one or more abortions in NSW. This statement is part of a much broader campaign led by a Pro-Choice coalition of sixty organisations including Family […]
Berejiklian Govt stomps on transparency
BY WENDY BACON Public accountability and transparency are often described as core principles of modern parliamentary democracy. However, it is one thing to set up accountability mechanisms, it is quite another for those mechanisms to deliver actual accountability by which is meant a willingness on the part of public officials to account for or accept […]
Asbestos policy needs support
BY JOAN HENSON Linden Thorley’s home was covered in deadly asbestos after an Australia Street warehouse fire on June 17 last year. It took over 10 months to completely clean his address of asbestos. His home had to be demolished as it could not remain standing with the necessary removal of 100 millimetres of soil. […]
