Categories
Politics and activism

Stop slacktivism now!

Pic from Indymedia So you’ve got a beef? Something’s wrong with the world and you want it fixed? Don’t be fooled — joining a Facebook group won’t change it. Adding a ribbon to your Twitter avatar won’t change it. Leaving a comment on a blog won’t change it. All these forms of Slactivism may help  ... [More]

Categories
News and events

The election

Wow. That’s not what I expected. A hung parliament. (Love the way the ABC Morph character MPs are in different poses, including some having their legs crossed.) A few thoughts (some of which I was going to post last week before other events intruded)… The results Who knows what’ll happen now. Just have to wait  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism

Federal issues

I would hope that everyone is actually considering what issues matter to them, and deciding how to vote on that basis, rather than just blindly voting for one side or the other. Of course, it’s not just a matter of chosing Labor or Coalition, particularly in the upper house. It may well be that The  ... [More]

Categories
Net Politics and activism Retrospectives

Ancient political history

Trivia for you: Back in prehistoric times, when most of you had never heard of the Internet and barely anybody used the Web, and way before Twitter and Facebook, I blogged the 1996 Federal election campaign. Several times a week I’d add something new, including a spoof leader debate transcript, a Hippy Party manifesto, Ron  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism

Julia Gillard, Prime Minister

I for one would like to welcome our new red-headed overlord. One of the things about the Westminster system is that if the ruling party loses confidence in the leader, they can replace him. And for those of you watching from overseas, that’s what happened this morning: Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister since the 2007 election,  ... [More]

Categories
News and events Politics and activism

Fewer than 5% of asylum seekers arrive by boat

I was following a link in a comment on The Australian’s amusing story about a Federal government media adviser accidently leaving an email trail on a media release (reminds me of the Windsor affair), which led me a document with some interesting factoids about the arrival of asylum seekers from 1976 to the present: Boat  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism transport

The State Budget in summary

Stakeholder and interest group commentary on the State Budget usually happens out the back of Parliament. And when it starts raining, everybody huddles under the shelter near the back door. Here’s my State Budget summary — well, the PT bits: Four new stations on existing lines to be built — Caroline Springs (V/Line), Williams Landing,  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism

Which MP’s fridge magnet is better?

It must be an election year — in the past few weeks we’ve got fridge magnets with emergency numbers, from both our federal Member of Parliament Andrew Robb (Liberal) and also from state MP Rob Hudson (Labor). So, you know how I like to treat political issues seriously. Which fridge magnet is better? Rob Hudson  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Lynne Kosky resigns

People, people, people, you may be celebrating the fact that Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky has resigned. But it’s not that simple. Just as the replacement of Connex with Metro hasn’t miraculously fixed the trains, neither will everything magically be okay with a new minister at the helm. She was spot-on last week when she  ... [More]

Categories
PTUA transport

Connex and Yarra Trams dumped

So, both Connex and TransdevTSL (operating as Yarra Trams) are being shown into the departure lounge, with MTM (MTR) and Keolis to replace them. I don’t think the former is a surprise, though the latter is. Some are celebrating. I know this for a fact, as yesterday morning at the station I heard one man  ... [More]