In the last week of winter, something strange happened: bushfires raged across New South Wales, with major fires in the Shoalhaven and Eurobodalla in the south of the state.
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“This is a very dangerous time for Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution and all of Latin America, and your solidarity now is extremely important”, Venezuelan ambassador to Australia, Nelson Davila, told the closing session of the Latin America Solidarity Conference in Melbourne.
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"Forget ‘alternative’ energy — it can’t work!" That — and in almost those exact words — was among the messages of an article published in the Rupert Murdoch-owned Weekend Australian on August 8 by journalist Terry McCrann.
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A typically dusty drive 25 kilometres south of central Australia’s Alice Springs brings you to an unlocked gate beside the old Ghan railway line.
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Jim Davidson was sacked as the head of the Northern Territory’s Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program (SIHIP) on August 18.
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The Sydney Stop the War Coalition (StWC) used the day of the sham presidential elections in Afghanistan to again call on the Rudd government to get the Australian troops out of the country. The war on Afghanistan was not a “good war”, the peace group said on August 20.
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On August 19, about 170 people skipped dinner and found someone to care for the kids so they could attend the High School for Coburg (HSC) forum at Coburg Town Hall.
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On August 11, thousands of TAFE teachers met at statewide stop-work meetings. Ninety-nine point nine percent voted for further industrial action if there is no satisfactory progress in the dispute. This includes a possible 24-hour strike in the week commencing August 31.
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On August 12, Australia’s formerly government-owned telecommunications company, Telstra, announced a $4 billion profit for the 2008-09 financial year.
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Federal parliament passed a renewable energy bill on August 20. The target is to source 20% of Australia’s energy from renewables by 2020. The reality is that it won’t do what Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says it will.
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While the NSW government is wavering over a Shooters Party’s proposal to allow hunting in national parks, less well known, but just as worrying, are plans for private commercial developments.
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August 21 was a nice day to be out on Sydney harbour with my best friend. But we were at Circular Quay not to go on a romantic ferry ride but to protest against the planned privatisation of Sydney ferries by the NSW Labor government.