Good news (for a change)

New South Wales Labor MP Noreen Hay, who has held the seat of Wollongong since 2003, is resigning from state parliament effective from September 1. Hay was the Labor Party's whip until May when Opposition Leader Luke Foley threatened to resign unless she stood down, after a senior staff member in her Wollongong electorate office was charged with electoral fraud.
Duncan Hart, a student who works part-time at a Coles supermarket in Brisbane, has won a David and Goliath battle against his employer and the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) in the Fair Work Commission. He claimed the enterprise bargaining agreement between Coles and his union left thousands of workers worse-off than they would be under the award, and was therefore invalid.
Veteran British director Ken Loach has won his second Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for I, Daniel Blake. The film is a warm and realistic drama about a middle-aged widower who, after a heart attack, can neither work nor get benefits. It follows his frustrations as he winds his way through an archaic system that seems designed to bring him down. Accepting the festival's top prize, Loach said: "We must give a message of hope, we must say another world is possible.
Greek Islanders who have been on the frontline of the refugee crisis have been nominated for the Nobel peace prize. Some 230 academics from the universities of Oxford, Princeton, Harvard, Cornell and Copenhagen nominated the people of Lesbos, Kos, Chíos, Samos, Rhodes and Leros for the prize. Only individuals or organisations are eligible to win the prize so 16 volunteer networks on the islands who organised to help the refugees are the official nominees.
The second-largest company in Ireland, CRH, has divested from Israel after coming under sustained pressure from Palestine solidarity activists. CRH held 25% of the shares in Mashav, owner of Israel's top cement manufacturer Nesher. In 2004, it admitted that “in all probability” Nesher cement was used in the construction of Israel's wall in the West Bank. Nesher cement has also been used in constructing Israeli settlements in the West Bank and in the light rail network serving Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem.
Right-wing racist Andrew Bolt's television show The Bolt Report has been axed by Channel Ten, according The Australian. Ten reportedly charged News Corp about $2 million a year for using its facilities to produce and broadcast the Sunday morning political discussion program. The program was not included in Ten's lineup for 2016.
Victoria passed legislation on November 27 creating exclusion zones of 150 metres around abortion clinics. Victoria decriminalised abortion in 2008. But each month right-wing Christians organised protests that harass women seeking to use clinics that offer abortions. The legislation makes it an offence to film people without consent or block access to footpaths, roads and vehicles within the zone around GP clinics, hospitals and other health services offering abortions.
After three years of campaigning, Tamil refugee Ranjini was suddenly released from Villawood detention centre on November 12. Even though she had been granted refugee status, Ranjini was whisked off the streets of Melbourne and locked up in 2012, due to a sudden ASIO decision to declare her a threat to national security. She was never allowed to find out why this had happened, see the evidence or challenge it in a court. More than 50 others suffered the same fate. Some have been released after six years in prison. Others are still there.
An agreement has been reached to prevent Aboriginal children from being forcibly taken from their families and communities in western New South Wales. Grandmothers Against Removals (GMAR) finalised the deal with the Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) that will ensure Aboriginal elders are consulted if concerns are raised about a child's welfare.
Tasmania bans fracking for five years The Tasmanian Liberal government will extend the ban on gas fracking until 2020 the minister for primary industries Jeremy Rockliff said on February 26. He said the ban was needed to protect the $1 billion a year agriculture industry and “protect Tasmania's reputation for producing fresh, premium and safe produce.” The move has been backed by the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers' Association, Dairy Australia and Wine Tasmania as well as the Greens. RADICAL CANDIDATE CHALLENGES CHICAGO MAYOR
NSW SHUTS CSG OPERATIONS IN GLOUCESTER The New South Wales government has shut down AGL’s coal seam gas operations in Gloucester in northern NSW. AGL voluntarily suspended operations after it detected benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes, also known as BTEX, in flowback water from two of the four wells. AGL said it did not use the chemicals, banned in CSG operations since 2011, and it was likely to be naturally occurring. The government has suspended AGL’s licence until an investigation has been completed by the Environmental Protection Agency.