Tag Archives
Breaking up the Powerhouse Museum: 10 Years of the LNP at Work
Opinion by KYLIE WINKWORH The NSW Government has hacked away at the Powerhouse Museum for the last ten years, relentlessly cutting its budget, gutting the museum of expertise, competent leadership and good governance, undermining public trust, and making museum policy on impulse round the campfire. In 2011 when the LNP came to power MAAS had […]
Sydney council’s Oxford Street planning failure
Opinion by ANDREW WOODHOUSE Our City of Sydney Council passed a motion last Monday putting its designs to vivify Oxford Street on public exhibition. Oxford Street is an ancient pathway used by the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. But why bother? Today, parts of Oxford Street are covered with black boards and look like […]
Saving Australia’s wildlife is the best way to honour Prince Philip’s legacy
Opinion by MERRILL WITT Prince Philip’s remarks at the opening of the Australian Mint in 1965, recently aired by Geraldine Doogue on RN’s Saturday Extra, were an early marker of his impressive credentials as an environmentalist. At that time, the Duke of Edinburgh didn’t hold back in warning his audience that Australia’s native wildlife was […]
The toxic threat confronting Inner West residents
Opinion by PETER HEHIR This Guardian article highlights the bleak future that faces all inner west residents who live within the fallout zone associated with any of the unfiltered WestConnex exhaust stacks. In concert with the aggressive position taken by the fossil fuel lobby, reminiscent of that last ditch stand by the cigarette companies, the […]
For the love of cats
Opinion by SANDRA SYMONS I never set out to acquire a cat, rather cats acquired me. Once, when I was coming home late at night with my young husband, walking across the grass under the northern pylon of the Harbour Bridge, a pretty little calico cat started following us. Every few metres, we stopped, I […]
Hey Rob Stokes, please don’t let Sydney Water trash the Two Valley Trail
By GAVIN GATENBY Planning Minister Rob Stokes is spruiking a “bold” new post-COVID planning statement for Sydney – a “regulatory instrument” that, among other laudable things, enshrines the creation and protection of accessible open spaces for everyone. Supposedly, it's all about the government stepping in to “ensure good design”. So here's a challenge for Rob […]
Museum of Flood Engineering and Innovation at Parramatta
Opinion by KYLIE WINKWORTH For the second time in 13 months the Parramatta River broke its banks last weekend and washed across the site of the Powerhouse Parramatta development. It was a bad look for the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS) which is trying to raise $75m for the project. Museums and dirty […]
THE NAKED CITY – RIDING THE BATHURST BULLET!
You have probably all seen the lists of things to do and places to visit that crop up regularly on websites like Concrete Playground and Time Out. They do a good job in promoting the cultural and geographic diversity of Sydney as well as highlighting some of our least known attractions. Time Out, for example, […]
The fallacy of sustainable growth
Opinion by PETER HEHIR In the slums of the England that Dickens wrote so vividly about, the working poor saw 3 or four families squeezed into one dwelling with a dozen or more sleeping in one room. Irish immigrants were welcomed as a source of cheap labour and in the eyes of many English, they […]
Willful ignorance is the only excuse for not addressing sexual harassment
Opinion by MERRILL WITT The #NotJustADaughter hashtag started trending on Twitter shortly after the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, explained at a press conference on February 16th that his decision to call for an independent inquiry into the Australian parliament's workplace practices was informed by his wife's advice to 'imagine how he would respond if Brittany […]
