Muloobinba/Newcastle

On March 20, 120 protesters gathered at Foreshore Park in Newcastle to protest against the proposed Tillegra dam. The protest was the culmination of the week-long “Walk for the Williams”, which started at Brownmore, passing the site of the proposed dam near Dungog before proceeding along the Williams River to Newcastle Harbour.

More than 40 people marked International Women’s Day on March 8 with a celebration of women’s music at the Newcastle Resistance Centre.

On 22 February, Newcastle Greens councillor Michael Osborne received a notice of a “code of conduct” complaint, because he’d taken part in a protest.

A group of activists known as the “Newcastle 23” went before the Newcastle Local Court on January 19. The 23 are charged with “rail safety offences” on December 20, after they stopped a coal train in response to the failure of the Copenhagen climate talks to agree to adequate binding emissions cuts.

A coalition of Newcastle business groups has launched a new campaign called “fix our city”.

Sydney hip hop act the Herd, famous for politically conscious songs like “77%” and “Burn Down the Parliament”, has gone on strike, refusing to play at a festival sponsored by the coal industry.Sydney hip hop act the Herd, famous for politically conscious songs like "77%" and "Burn Down the Parliament", has gone on strike, refusing to play at a festival sponsored by the coal industry.

Fifty people marched from Newcastle Trades Hall to state MP Jodi McKay’s office on August 28, protesting against the proposed privatisation of the Wallsend aged care facility. The rally was organised by the NSW Nurses Association. NNA members were joined by members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and Maritime Union of Australia Veterans Association.

Twenty people attended a meeting to discuss the need for greater solidarity with Palestine on February 11. The meeting, organised by the Socialist Alliance, featured Abe Quadan, a Council member of the Centre of Peace and Conflict Studies at the

Green Left Weekly’s Zane Alcorn spoke to Sally Corbett, chairperson of the No Tillegra Dam group, which is seeking to have Hunter Water reverse their 2006 decision to build a dam comparable in size to Sydney Harbour near Dungog, about 90km out of Newcastle.

Green Left Weekly’s Simon Cunich spoke to Peter Kennedy, a coalminer and anti-coal activist and Graham Brown, who worked with Kennedy until retiring from mining last year. Both men were at a November 22 protest outside Eraring coal-fired power station, on the NSW Central Coast. Brown’s comments were recorded in September.

After walking in to Bayswater power station near Singleton, I was one of about 25 people who took part in a protest at one of Australia’s biggest CO₂ emitters on November 1.

The Newcastle ALP branch effectively delivered Newcastle Council to the right in the September 13 elections, by preferencing Aaron Buman’s team of “razor gang” independents instead of the Greens.