(We) can do better

A few weeks ago, cross-benchers got together with the Liberals to conduct an inquiry into the legitimacy of State Labor Government Victoria's new planning laws that underpin the authoritarian creation of massive new 'activity centres,' infilling, hyper-densification, and removal of residents' rights to affect and discuss and dispute what happens where they live.  The Inquiry found

I was not the only one sitting up late last night, writing to various members of the Victorian Legislative Council.  There are about 55 neighborhood groups, many councils and other bodies, all trying to stop what is going ahead. They have been involved in this battle for a long time.  In the absence of any reasonable information and consultation, neighborhood groups have been writing and distributing their own information about what Planning is about to do.

This report came out today in the Legislative Council, Victoria.  Non-Labor members of the Committee criticised the amendments for failing to consult the community as they are required to by law, and found that they contain little or nothing that would provide the much-claimed affordable housing, and failed on environmental counts.  The full report is here: https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/49a10f/globalassets/tabled-paper-documents/tabled-paper-9164/

An article by Aude Lecrubier, in Medscape reported that, "A study published in The Lancet HIV suggests that recent and anticipated international budget cuts may lead to 4.4 to 10.8 million new HIV infections by 2030 in low- and middle-income nations, along with 0.8 to 2.9 million HIV-related deaths within five years.

See video and written submission inside. Independents and small parties usually cannot find enough scrutineers to check most of the votes. They lack the manpower and finances. Also, with the prepolling, small parties and independents cannot keep publicity up for two weeks, whilst the Libs and the Labs take full advantage of this situation by plastering voting places with with publicity and staffing them with copious volunteers. Lex Stewart worked as a scrutineer for 25 years.

Gerard Renick of the People First Party Thank all those who supported his campaign. Currently, the Australian electoral Commission tally room shows that he now has 35.26% of the quota necessary for him to win one of the 6 Senate seats being contested in this half-Senate election. To be returned as Senator, he needs to gain another 64.74% of the total of Queensland Senate votes through the allocation of preferences from candidates with fewer votes than him.

All Australian mainstream media outlets push the idea that we must have rapid population growth in Australia and that this must be sourced by increasing rates of immigration. Whilst the mass media never shuts up about this, they are very repressive about any contrary opinion, although people are really angry about the increasingly obvious costs in all this, and they seek ways to express themselves.

Amid Australia's growing conflict over population numbers and democratic planning, we need ideas based on historical and social research, rather than shallow logistics pushed by technocrats. Familiar with these dynamics, I see the challenge of joining this debate with the depth it needs.

Victoria, Australia: This is a committee to examine the VC257, VC274 and VC267 Victorian planning amendments.Anything that questions Victoria's planning dictatorship is good, but we need to remember that this inquiry occurs just before a federal election, and  fails to challenge the mass immigration that is forcing high housing prices and arbitrary suburban densification.  No MP here points out that the population is set to double every 28 years or less, and

Over the past few years, the two major parties have combined, with little resistance from the Greens, or the Teals, to rigidly restrict new political candidates from running. Seeing this danger, three new political organisations formed with the intention of platforming and promoting new independent candidates and political movements. These were Democracy First, Fusion, and the Australian Progressives.

Dunkley Candidate, Andrew Gatley (andrewgatley.au), explains why Independents have not been listed on news stories or lists of registered candidates which appeared prior to the announcement of the date of the upcoming 2025 election.

Part of the Australian Peacock Spider Genus, the very recently discovered Maratus Yanchep spider, may soon be extinguished by human expansion for profit, in a Peet's West Australian hous

There has been a massive four-day Peace conference in Sana'a, Yemen, conducted by Houthis of the Ansar Allah Government of Yemen, with delegates from numerous countries, including China and South Africa.

Australia’s top spy wrote to the CIA asking to keep secret details of an investigation into phone calls made to the US Embassy in Canberra about an assassination plot before President John F. Kennedy was killed, newly declassified files have revealed. Australia’s top spy wrote to the CIA asking to keep secret details of an investigation into phone calls made to the US Embassy in Canberra about an assassination plot before President John F. Kennedy was killed, newly declassified files have revealed.

This is a vivid rundown on Tousi Tv https://youtube.com/live/y58J7tMQwhc?si=oUY4ECfa1ecoO-IE.

[Update 20 March 2025 - It appears that there has been another uprising in Turkey, What will this mean for Israel and Syria?] The Axis of Genocide: Turkey, run by its two-faced President Erdogan, is part of the axis of genocide.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is calling for the public’s help in its investigation into the suspected mass poisoning of hundreds of native Corella birds across multiple Newcastle suburbs, including Hamilton, Carrington, Waratah, Broadmeadow, Lambton, and near Newcastle University. The EPA received initial reports on Monday 17 March 2025 of 14 sick and dead birds in Hamilton but by midday reports had escalated to hundreds of affected birds in Carrington and surrounding areas.

Non è solo in Victoria, o nel NSW, o in Australia Meridionale, o in Australia Occidentale, o nel Territorio del Nord. I Centri di Attività e la densificazione vengono spinti in ogni parte dell'Australia. E la decentralizzazione non è la risposta; anche le città di campagna sono costrette ad accogliere nuovi insediamenti densi. E non siamo solo noi umani a essere colpiti.

It is not just in Victoria, or NSW, or South Australia, or West Australia, or the Northern Territory. Activity Centres and densification are being pushed in every part of Australia.  And decentralisation is not the answer either; country towns are being forced to accommodate dense new settlements too. And it's not just we humans who are impacted.  Dogs are flooding animal shelters because their owners can no longer afford space or food to keep them.  Horses cannot find paddocks.

The memorial service honoring Frankston environmentalist Olwen Margaret Bawden has been put back until next week on Saturday 22 March, and the venue has changed to The Frankston Arts Centre, Cube 37, between 2pm and 3pm. But on Saturday 15 March 2025, The family Autumn Picnic will proceed from 12.00 to 2 pm at Seaford Senior Citizens' Hall, Broughton Avenue, Seaford.