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Sustainable and democratic planning in NSW
With the Government’s planning legislation set to be considered in the Legislative Council in the week of the 19 November, this is a crucial time to raise awareness of the ...
Organ harvesting law reform: report released
The NSW Greens are today formally releasing the report on a draft organ trafficking law called the Human Tissue Amendment (Trafficking in Human Organs) Bill 2013. The Greens are currently proposing law reform to create specific offenses of receiving harvested or trafficked organs within NSW or overseas. Such law reform could highlight the injustice of the global […]
Rio Tinto Turns Its Workers Into Lobbyists [New Matilda]
Rio Tinto has been urging its workers to make scripted submissions to parliament supporting a mine expansion. Rio doesn’t own its workforce or their opinions, writes Greens MP David Shoebridge An opinion piece published by David in New Matilda on Friday 6 December 2013. You can see it online in its original context here. Recently, Rio Tinto […]
Windsor Bridge – Hidden documents reveal political interference in planning process
Documents forcibly disclosed from the NSW government by order of the State’s Upper House show high level political interference in the planning approval process for the controversial Windsor Bridge replacement project. The project has been strongly criticised for the damage it will do to Thompson Square, Australia’s oldest public square. The documents revealed show how […]
Racial vilification laws – time to get serious
The NSW parliament’s Law and Justice Committee today handed down a report and recommendations aimed at strengthening the State’s racial vilification laws. It what can be a very heated and divisive area of public debate it is noteworthy that MPs from across the political spectrum endorsed the recommendations and the state’s racial vilification laws. The […]
O’Farrell government breaks another hunting promise?
The O’Farrell government has a seriously troubled history of dealing with the gun lobby. They first planned to let amateur hunters loose in more than 75 National Parks, unsupervised. For this decision they received the brunt of a widespread public campaign demanding this dangerous plan be scrapped. To the government’s credit they responded by getting […]
A little bit of truth about the Planning Bill
What on earth happened to the Planning Bill in the NSW Upper House that has got the government and big business so hot under the collar? If you believed the property developers and the miners then the sky fell in. The big miners and their mates in the Property Council and the NSW Business Chamber […]
Psychological injuries rated as second-class injuries under O’Farrell Government’s legislative changes
The O’Farrell Government has consistently treated psychological injuries as second class injuries under several of its recent legislative changes. This pattern suggests that there is a deep rooted ideology that views these injuries as less significant than physical injuries. Watch David’s adjournment speech on compensation for physiological injuries here. The transcript for his speech can […]
Historic failure of planning reform
Petition: Ensure sustainable and democratic planning in NSW The Government’s flawed planning bill has passed the NSW Upper House today, having been subject to substantial, but insufficient, amendments and it still represents a pro-developer and anti-environment planning regime. Amendments made to the bill were significant. They removed code assessable development as a class of development, re-introduced […]