Rally rejects airport in Sydney basin
SYDNEY — More than 400 demonstrators rallied in Fairfield on March 9 to oppose the building of a second international airport at either Badgerys Creek or Holsworthy.
Holroyd Mayor Stuart Graham told the rally an airport at either location would pollute the air with fumes and dumped fuel. The airport would be in use 24 hours a day, and the Prospect Dam, the source of much of Sydney's water supply, would be contaminated. The rally called on Canberra to reconsider sites outside the Sydney metropolitan area.
Call for release of secret documents
SYDNEY — The Doctors Reform Society has called for the release of the audit report into the performance of the Port Macquarie Base Hospital. "The extra $3 million of taxpayers' money recently claimed by Port Macquarie Base Hospital owner, Mayne Nickless, could not be justified without public scrutiny of the audit", said Dr Con Costa, president of DRS. "Similar public hospitals are being starved of funds, despite their much better performance."
Duck rescuers outnumber shooters
HOBART — Duck Rescue Tasmania, a conservation volunteer group, targeted Moulting Lagoon on the state's east coast for the sixth consecutive year at the start of the 1997 duck hunting season. The 27 rescuers outnumbered hunters.
Cath Hughes, coordinator of Duck Rescue, told Green Left Weekly that she was "really pleased with the outcome". The 1997 duck identification test initially attracted fewer than 500 shooters. This increased to more than 1100 when the amnesty on illegal weapons was extended. With the new gun laws starting next year, duck shooting will be reduced to its lowest levels ever, increasing the potential for a total ban.
Olympic development opposed
SYDNEY — The rush of developers to cash in on the Olympic boom has been put on hold by Friends of Burwood. At the Burwood RSL last month, 380 residents unanimously supported a motion that "all high-rises be deferred in the Burwood municipality".
Liberal MP Paul Zammit supported the motion. His electoral promise of "no high-rise in Burwood" put him in Canberra. Burwood Council has now voted four to three in support of the residents' motion, despite the mayor and deputy mayor voting against.
Students speak out against racism
SYDNEY — Fifty students attended a rally and speak-out against racism organised by Resistance at the University of Sydney on March 12. Jenny Munro from the Metropolitan Lands Council spoke about the situation facing the Aboriginal community in Redfern, and the need for a strong defence of the Block.
Thomas Michel, education officer of the National Union of Students (NSW), said that cuts to student income support and increased fees affect access to education for Aboriginal and migrant students, and are a subtle form of racism. Resistance activist Lucy White called on students to get involved in the campaign against racism on campus, and to link up with the Redfern campaign. Resistance is collecting names for a network of supporters of the Block.
Picket against Reith
BRISBANE — Unionists picketed the Heritage Hotel on March 14 to protest against the presence of federal industrial relations minister Peter Reith and his Queensland counterpart Santo Santoro, addressing a seminar on the future of industrial relations.
Some 40 members of the Community and Public Sector Union, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, the Transport Workers Union and others chanted and held up banners and placards condemning the new state and federal workplace relations legislation, which attack union rights and workers' conditions.
Canberra New Labor Party meets
CANBERRA — Fifty people attended the inaugural meeting of the Canberra branch of the New Labor Party on March 10. Running in local elections was supported despite the move by the ACT ALP to acquire rights to the name "New Labor Party" from the Electoral Commission. The New Labor Party is contesting the name grab.
Some questioned the fact that many NLP members still belonged to the ALP. Ron Schaab warned that ALP members would have to choose between the parties after the NLP June conference in Melbourne. An annual general meeting of the Canberra branch of the party will be held in April to elect office bearers.