鈥淚f it were ever completed, WestConnex would be the biggest underground motorway system anywhere in the world and certainly, per kilometre, the most expensive,鈥 states the October edition of EcoTansit News.
鈥淵et it won鈥檛 solve Sydney鈥檚 traffic problems and instead, will take much-needed funding away from other, integrated public transport. It just doesn鈥檛 add up!鈥
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Iranian refugee Majid Rabet could not hold back his tears as he recounted the details of the suicide of his best friend, an Iraqi refugee, in Villawood Detention Centre.
鈥淚 was the first person who went in the bathroom and saw he hanged himself. I lifted him upwards to keep him alive, but he was already dead,鈥 Majid said.
Radical solutions to poverty were put forward at a public conversation titled 鈥淧ushed to the Margins鈥 held at the Newcastle City Hall on October 21.
The ABC鈥檚 Lateline co-presenter Emma Alberici hosted the forum and seemed to be taken aback by economist Professor Bill Mitchell鈥檚 simple solutions to poverty.
Asked by Alberici, 鈥淲hat causes unemployment?鈥, Mitchell responded: 鈥淟ack of jobs鈥.
Mitchell went on to advocate a 鈥渏ob guarantee鈥, where the government funds job creation through a massive programme of productive public works.
Moreland council has become one of the first organisations to vote against participating in the federal Work for the Dole scheme. The federal government scheme was expanded in July to incorporate jobseekers aged under 50 who have been receiving welfare payments for more than six months.
Sue Bolton, a Socialist Alliance councillor on Moreland council moved a motion on October 7 against council participating in the Work for the Dole scheme.
In an October 26 editorial in the Medical Journal of Australia Caroline M de Costa and Heather Douglas argue that laws relating to abortion are out of date, and variations in laws between states have led to serious barriers for women access terminations.
The editorial calls for uniform legislation across the country, 鈥渟o that the law is in step with modern medical practice and so that women regardless of where they live have equal access to abortion services鈥.
鈥淐urrent Australian abortion laws continue to disadvantage many women.
Here's this month's radical record round-up, with an emphasis on police brutality worldwide. It actually features聽far more聽than 11 albums (count them). What album, or albums, would you suggest? Comment on聽听辞谤听.听
Anti-Poverty Network SA hosted the 鈥淪tand Up! Speak Out!鈥 conference in Adelaide on October 16 and 17. The grassroots gathering of welfare recipients, community workers and activists from South Australian and Victorian groups was part of Anti-Poverty Week.
One of the highlights was the 鈥淲ar On The Poor鈥 session. Rob Graham from 麻豆传媒 Weekly and Pas Forgione from Anti-Poverty Network SA spoke to Owen Bennett from the Australian Unemployed Workers' Union and Kerry Arch from the Australian United Sole Parents Network about the attacks on welfare recipients.
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) announced on October 27 that it will join the movement to screen out fossil fuel interests from its investment portfolio. It will also look for ethical investment opportunities in renewable energy.
It is the first Australian union to commit to divest from fossil fuels, and follows its decision to adopt a position on ethical investment at its national meeting held in Melbourne, October 8-10.
The union represents tens of thousands working at tertiary education institutions around the country.
The United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated in 2011 that carbon dioxide emissions had to be limited to 1000 gigatons to have a two-thirds chance of keeping global warming below 2掳C.
By mid-October, there were more than 100,000 fires raging in the Indonesian provinces of Sumatra and Kalimantan that had released an estimated 995 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the past four months. This is just short of 1 gigaton.
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