Climate activists Petrina Harley and Alex Salmon are running for the Socialist Alliance in the WA Senate while Sam Wainwright is standing for the seat of Fremantle. Janet Parker reports.
Western Australia
Protesters gathered on November 26 to oppose Vimy Resources' proposal to mine uranium at Mulga Rock, reports Sam Wainwright.
Under the cover of applying “one vote, one value” to elections for the Legislative Council, last month WA Labor also pushed through legislation that disadvantages smaller political parties, writes Sam Wainwright.
The response to Woodside’s announcement that it is proceeding with its Scarborough gas field exploitation project has been swift, with protests and direct actions organised in Murujuga and Perth. Sam Wainwright reports.
An urgent campaign and blockade by the WA Forest Alliance to prevent logging in the Lewin Forest, west of Manjimup in Western Australia’s south-west, has dramatically demonstrated the need for more to be done to save these forests.
Various ongoing threats, such as climate change and the timber industry, continue to plague the unique ecosystems of south-west Western Australia. Various species are coming under pressure and time may be running out for people to experience the serenity and cacophony of these forests in all their splendour.
Local community garden organiser and waste educator Amy Warne explains why she is part of Extinction Rebellion.
The day after the May 18 federal election, as people were reeling from the unexpected result and taking time to regroup, the initiators of Extinction Rebellion WA hosted a picnic at the Hilton Harvest Community Gardens near Fremantle. One hundred and fifty people attended and, while there was some licking of post-election wounds, what dominated was a sense of hope and determination.
It has been revealed that corporate mining giant BHP Billiton used a simple accounting trick to avoid paying iron ore royalties to the Western Australian government for over a decade. Last year, BHP took in a profit of $9.5 in iron ore from WA.
The longest running industrial dispute in Western Australia’s coalmining history ended on February 14 when, after 180 days of protected industrial action, maintenance workers at Griffin Coal returned to work. Workers voted on February 9 to accept a new enterprise agreement that gave them back their family friendly rosters, a liveable wage and entitlements.
Chris Owen has produced an exhaustive history of colonial Western Australia pastoralists and the police who served their interests in the Kimberley region. It shows that, at best, they considered Aboriginal people as convenient slave labour and at worst pests who were to be exterminated.
Western Australia’s marine environment is unique. It has two world heritage areas, the largest fringing coral reef in Australia and more than a thousand kilometres of underwater forests, supporting incredible wildlife, important fisheries and tourism.