tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19591774987609141542024-10-05T11:58:10.393+10:00Climate, environment, clean energy, politics and civil society.<br>Progressive issues, views and public interest campaigns.Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.comBlogger302125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-52529608284540741532014-12-20T09:20:00.000+11:002014-12-20T09:21:59.750+11:00

Our national grief over the deadly siege at Sydney's Martin Place is undeniably shared by prime minister Tony Abbott and his wife Margie. Yet our collective sorrow over the deaths of Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson does not depend for its legitimacy or depth of feeling on our acceptance of the prime minister's broader perspective on the tragedy, which as a nation we must reject. David Marr and

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-29253736102783187422014-04-27T13:57:00.000+10:002014-04-27T13:57:15.751+10:00

The federal government's threat of further job and funding cuts to the CSIRO - among Australia's premier scientific truth-finding research organisations - fits neatly with the recently reported comments of Federal Attorney-General George Brandis in claimed defence of freedom of speech for climate change deniers.As reported by The Guardian, Brandis used an interview in online journal Spiked to

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-38581101947562963742014-01-08T10:25:00.000+11:002014-01-08T10:25:29.306+11:00

Here's the unedited version of my letter in today's Age in response to yesterday's editorial and coverage of the violent death of a Melbourne homeless man last weekend: The failure to treat with dignity and respect the city crime scene of last weekend’s fatal stabbing of Mr Wayne Perry sounds a profoundly sad note that should also be heard as an urgent call to action to respond to the needs of

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-11633138573381229262013-07-08T12:10:00.000+10:002013-07-08T12:10:23.908+10:00

Those who read Saturday's coverage in The Age of Lord Mayor Robert Doyle's proposals to revamp Queen Victoria Market might be interested in my response in today's letters in the paper: We are entitled to scepticism of Lord Mayor Robert Doyle's grand plans to revamp the Queen Vic Market. Coming hot on the heels of Doyle exempting himself from a Council planning decision due to developer

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-16129311934003615872013-01-10T10:16:00.000+11:002013-01-10T10:16:07.235+11:00

Dear Mr Holden, As bushfires rage around Australia, let me suggest an alternative to yesterday's editorial, shriekingly headlined, "Sharemarket damaged by financial terrorism". You might have instead considered "Climate damaged by carbon terrorism" - it gets you much closer to the truth. A vastly larger group of "shareholders" is hurt by the exploitation of fossil fuels and routinely

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-2292843915723279152012-12-17T07:57:00.000+11:002012-12-17T07:57:23.143+11:00

On Saturday, The Age published a strong piece about a mother with a disability whose child was removed and placed in alternative custody by a court order despite the mother's clear capacity as a good parent. Laws to prevent people speaking out about individual cases are found in a number of areas relating to children - including (as in this case) in family law, as well as in child protection.

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-52738251148298432822012-10-27T08:58:00.000+11:002012-10-27T08:58:10.519+11:00

A hoped-for political "funeral" for Doyleat Melbourne Town Hall A modest protest last Sunday marked a year since the forceful eviction of Occupy Melbourne protesters from City Square on 21 October 2011. Robert Doyle, an enthusiast for the eviction who had looked down imperiously on the police horses and more than 100 officers from a balcony of Melbourne Town Hall, will soon learn if he

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-89486866322199344602012-04-27T15:39:00.000+10:002012-04-28T10:52:30.617+10:00

It is unsurprising that former Liberal Senator Nick Minchin has followed up his appearance on last night's ABC climate special and Q and A Climate Debate with an opinion piece in today's Age stating the thoroughly expected "news" that they failed to change his mind about climate change. Yet, if anything emerged from last night, it was that there is no climate debate as such (as opposed to mere

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-73815889344218342742012-04-13T08:00:00.000+10:002012-04-13T08:00:51.867+10:00

Today's edition of The Age carries my letter (see "Not cricket, chaps") responding to yesterday's piece by Philip Dorling reporting ASIO's spying on green protesters who are fighting the expansion of coal by Australian State and Federal governments. Here's the unedited version: MEMO to ASIO: Chaps, I need to give you the nod about some dastardly characters conspiring as part of a secret

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-56930337195395571562012-04-12T18:17:00.001+10:002012-04-12T18:17:29.610+10:00

Yesterday, The Age reported the Baillieu Government's "Plan to head off protests on coal". This deceitful plan to sell brown coal expansion to the Victorian public itself acknowledges that "as part of action on climate change, many stakeholders expect to see a transition away from coal". It's worth asking why, as we also note the fundamental obligation of any publicly funded government

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-9518032562115161552012-03-31T18:33:00.000+11:002012-03-31T18:33:12.800+11:00

Victorian minister for the environment and climate change, Ryan Smith, last night offered a feeble "streetlight" defence of the Baillieu Government's climate change inaction. Speaking on ABC 7.30 Victoria, Smith suggested the Government's scrapping of the State's 2020 emissions target, the slated expansion of its emissions-intensive brown coal industry, and the removal of emissions caps for

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-78671400220406098372012-03-28T08:10:00.000+11:002012-03-31T16:48:06.517+11:00

A lot can be politically "justified" amid the fear of an economic downturn - cuts to spending, services and public sector jobs, the sale of assets, the short-sighted expansion of the brown coal industry, and now the abandonment of an emissions reduction target legislated with bi-partisan support under the former Brumby Labor Government. Unfortunately, ideas that are bad even in good economic

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-55700228979851585602012-02-15T08:06:00.000+11:002012-02-15T08:06:52.097+11:00

In the relative calm of the Australian economy, banks such as the ANZ are imposing the austerity of unemployment on thousands of workers to boost their multi-billion-dollar profits. Yesterday The Age reported that, in addition to the 1000 jobs being shed by the ANZ, up to 10,000 jobs could go from the financial services sector in Australia within the next two years. Today the paper ran my

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-70109661504554518392012-02-11T09:22:00.000+11:002012-02-15T08:07:17.762+11:00

Updated 14/2/12 In a move to "shore up" brown coal rather than properly support genuine clean energy alternatives, resources and energy minister Martin Ferguson yesterday announced that HRL has yet a further six months to get its long-flailing Latrobe Valley brown coal power plant together and meet funding conditions before it loses a $100m Federal Government grant. Ferguson also announced $

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-50349751739142915882012-02-01T21:58:00.000+11:002012-02-02T17:06:42.288+11:00

A great line-up of speakers and more than 400 nearly 500 people turned up at Victorian Parliament at lunchtime today (Wed. 1 Feb.) to call for an end to the HRL brown coal power station in the Latrobe Valley. (Why?) Protesters obviously found it not only acceptable, but highly worthwhile to highlight that the project does not stack up economically and would be a disastrous misstep for action

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-48668812737764322292012-01-31T12:41:00.002+11:002012-02-01T08:48:16.437+11:00

Tomorrow (Wed. 1 Feb) an important coal protest will take place at 12.30pm on the steps of the Victorian Parliament to call for the end of a brown-coal gasification power station proposed by HRL in the Latrobe Valley. Such protest should be a commonplace - as acceptable as protest about job security and conditions, the availability of affordable child care, or safer level crossings - but

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-49828757056215355092012-01-14T12:29:00.000+11:002012-01-14T19:23:00.349+11:00

I say it's time to turn the tables in the open-source stakes against Martin Ferguson. As many will know by now - including many in the energy and resources minister's own Batman electorate - Ferguson has been pushing a spy-on-the-protesters campaign to undermine public interest protest and to defend - with the help of ASIO, the AFP and others - the private interests of carbon-intensive

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-77297423383614602002012-01-12T23:49:00.001+11:002012-01-13T00:07:52.039+11:00

Lots more photos and video will be available shortly, but Say No to NOSIC, today's Occupy Melbourne event at Martin Ferguson's electoral office, was a very positive coming together of disparate groups - all there to defend public interest protest against private interest spying. I travelled by 86 tram with a group from the City Square, and it seemed an appropriate beginning that Melbourne City

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-81183034350755433032012-01-11T22:16:00.000+11:002012-01-13T18:50:54.396+11:00

If you haven't seen Quit Coal's very amusing short video about Tuesday's action against Martin Ferguson's spy-on-the protesters campaign, it's a must-see, with a very funny punchline about a certain fictional cat. Unfortunately, the video is also a perfect illustration of the misuse of public resources not to fend off a threat, but to defend and perpetuate one - the Member for Batman himself,

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-42552015072536297902012-01-10T08:25:00.002+11:002012-01-10T18:58:24.220+11:00

Updated 6.54pm. The continuing public backlash over resources and energy minister Martin Ferguson's spy-on-the protesters campaign spells more bad news for the Batman MP turned private interest campaigner and spymaster. The wave of letters in yesterday's editions of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald continues in today's Melbourne broadsheet. Quit Coal and Friends of the Earth campaigner

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-49478586175294963862012-01-08T12:09:00.000+11:002012-01-08T12:25:46.069+11:00

With all the controversy and plans for action in response to Martin Ferguson's spy-on-the-protesters campaign, I was slightly surprised to see my letter ("Keep us informed") in today's edition of The Sunday Age responding to Farrah Tomazin's excellent report last week, Baillieu's FOI watchdog more like a toothless tiger. Purely coincidentally, of course, the two issues are strangely linked.

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-20221003138843835592012-01-07T23:19:00.002+11:002012-01-07T23:21:32.397+11:00

I had the pleasure of attending my first General Assembly at Occupy Melbourne today, and did so to urge action over revelations that Martin Ferguson has actively promoted spying on lawful green protest groups pursuing the public interest, and is urging harsher penalties for some protest activities. The General Assembly resolved that a protest with environment groups will be held at 4.30pm next

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-53299651810160604802012-01-07T08:55:00.000+11:002012-01-08T12:19:43.095+11:00

Important update: Come to next Thursday's protest (12/1) at Martin Ferguson's Preston electorate office. -- Media revelations that resources and energy minister Martin Ferguson has called on the spies to monitor environmental campaigners and urged stiffer penalties for protests should come as no surprise to anyone who has worked on those campaigns and protests in the hope of a safer climate.

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-67452491289719340712012-01-06T10:39:00.000+11:002012-01-06T10:41:00.878+11:00

Recent coverage in The Age (No job security for new teachers; School success depends on a secure workforce) has highlighted the impact of job insecurity in Victoria's public education system, and its implications for the State's young people. Letters yesterday and today have offered further perspectives. Mine focused on the stifling effect of job insecurity on workers in teaching and other vital

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959177498760914154.post-79346940038996605922012-01-01T18:06:00.000+11:002012-01-01T18:10:28.347+11:00

When contemplating the ugly side of our public transport system, it’s not vandals, loutish behaviour, or the seething “crush loads” soon to return to our overcrowded trains that come to mind. On the day The Age ran its December editorial asking whether public transport users were being taken for a ride, the announcement of fare hikes amid the continued poor performance of the system seemed to

Darren Lewin-Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15817515820171237980noreply@blogger.com0