“We as human beings tend to confuse the unprecedented with the improbable”, former US vice-president Al Gore told the July 13 launch of the new environmental NGO, Safe Climate Australia (SCA). Present were 1000 invited guests including environment activists, business representatives and professionals working in related fields.
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Cindy Shelley had worked for Thomastown-based tooling specialist Sutton Tools for more than 20 years when she was told that her job was gone.
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About 5000 people turned out for the government-organised Harmony Day march through Melbourne on July 12.
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The July 14 Age reported on unoccupied “ghost mansions” in the well-heeled Melbourne suburb of Toorak. These million-dollar houses have been bought by wealthy landowners and left unoccupied – in some cases for decades.
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There are few words that attract negative outbursts of emotions from Melbournians as much as the mere utterance of “Connex”.
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Residents group Friends of Banyule staged a protest on June 20 outside a meeting with state roads minister Tim Pallas. The meeting was an information session about the proposed freeway link between the Eastern Freeway and the Western Ring Road.
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Victorian paramedics began industrial action on June 19, after enterprise bargaining negotiations with the state government broke down following a year of discussions. A ballot returned 94% support for industrial action.
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The Victorian government released plans on June 17 to expand Melbournes Urban Growth Boundary for new housing developments. This overturns previous commitments in its Melbourne 2030" strategy for limited urban sprawl.
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A forum on human rights and media freedom in Sri Lanka attracted 200 people on June 6.
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Ninety workers stopped work on June 10 across the three manufacturing sites of Tieman Industries in a battle for a new collective bargaining agreement. Among their demands are a 36-hour week — in effect a nine-day fortnight — a better redundancy clause and a decent wage increase.
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Flawed Promises, a report released on May 25, found that the Victoria’s state government was protecting paddocks and previously logged areas instead of 500-year-old forests.
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Telstra workers took their campaign for a new enterprise bargaining agreement to the streets on May 27, with a farewell to former Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo.