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Changes to Centrelink robo-debt recovery

The federal government announced changes to Centrelink鈥檚 controversial automated debt recovery system on February 14.

The changes include no longer demanding immediate payment from people who dispute a debt; allowing people to use bank statements, instead of hard-to-obtain payslips, to prove their income; making it easier to contact Centrelink; and allowing people to by-pass the MyGov portal to review their debt.

But unions, community groups, Labor, the Greens and GetUp! have all warned the changes do not address fundamental flaws with the system.

Lex Wotton to stand for parliament

First Nations activist Lex Wotton has announced he will contest the state seat of Townsville as an independent in the yet-to-be-announced Queensland election.

Wotton was jailed for two years for his role in the Palm Island riots of 2004.

More recently the Federal Court found that police breached the Racial Discrimination Act after the death of Cameron Doomadgee, but the Queensland Government has appealed the ruling.

It was this appeal that spurred him into action.

NSW Liberals face backlash over forced council mergers

The Save Our Councils Coalition (SOCC) has announced a "Put the Liberals Last" campaign in the coming state byelections in NSW, with SOCC spokesperson Phil Jenkyn saying: "They [the Liberals] will be massacred in the North Shore byelection."

The group was responding on February 14 to the decision by Premier Gladys Berejiklian to push ahead with the forced amalgamations of 20 urban councils and continue to pursue the mergers of the five Sydney councils that are currently taking legal action against the plan.

Turkey: The Kurdish region since the coup attempt

The July 15 coup attempt was a nightmare. Kurds remember the terrible army coups in Turkey鈥檚 past. After the coups, Kurdish people were jailed, killed and tortured.

Kurds are against military coups. By nightfall on July 15, the pro-Kurdish Peoples鈥 Democratic Party (HDP) had immediately condemned the coup attempt.

Kurds thought that after the coup attempt, there may be a return to the peace process.

The reasons behind this were:

How to form a lynch mob using Facebook

In Melton, an outer-western suburb of Melbourne, Shane Gillard, a man with links to the far-right group Soldiers of Odin, used Facebook to blame 鈥淪udanese thugs鈥 for a carjacking on February 9.

However, as surfaced, the truth emerged: no Sudanese immigrants were involved, but two men had a violent altercation in a carpark before the offender, 鈥渙f Caucasian appearance鈥, stole the other's car.

Good news (for a change)

Firefighters save flying foxes

Temperatures above 40掳C on February 10 and 11 were perilous for Canberra鈥檚 flying fox colony in Commonwealth Park.

Extreme heat can cause them to become distressed and sometimes die, as happened in Singleton, where temperatures over 45掳C killed hundreds of grey-headed flying foxes.

Knowing the risk to the animals, volunteers from ACT wildlife, the National Capital Authority, Jerrabomberra Rural Fire Service Brigade and ACT Fire and Rescue combined to spray water on the animals.

Clearing our rainfall away

Vegetation creates rain. That is one of the conclusions of a review of more than 150 scientific papers on land-clearing鈥檚 impact on rainfall, conducted by Dailan Pugh for the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA). The review, , reveals how land-clearing affects rainfall and its impact on the climate.

Threat of US-driven war is real, but it can be stopped, John Pilger says in new film

The Coming War On China
Written & directed by John Pilger
http://thecomingwarmovie.com
Screening now, visit site for details

The Coming War on China is possibly John Pilger鈥檚 best film in years.

In classic Pilger style, the Australian-born filmmaker 鈥 responsible for dozens of films critical of great power 鈥 depicts the threat the US war machine poses in the Asian region in the context of the rise of China.

That lump of dense matter in parliament

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison pulled out a lump of coal in parliament on February 9 and launched a rant in which he accused the opposition of 鈥渃oal-o-phobia鈥 and regurgitated PM Malcolm Turnbull's outrageous National Press Club speech urging more coal-fired power stations be built.

Morrison went wild while behind him other Liberals and Nationals joined in a pantomime by passing the lump of coal to each other.

Palestine: On eve of Netanyahu visit, illegal settlements at tipping point

In the first ever visit by a serving Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to arrive in Australia this month as part of an international tour aimed at shoring up Israel鈥檚 reputation abroad.

The visit has actually attracted attention 鈥 but not the kind Netanyahu would like.

Faulty child welfare system the real issue behind our youth justice crisis

Somewhere along the way, many vulnerable children in state care turn to crime. How this happens and what can be done about it are two of the most important crime-prevention questions facing society.

Evidence indicates that, if the is not acknowledged and addressed, today鈥檚 vulnerable kids will become tomorrow鈥檚 criminals.

Day Without Immigrants' protests and strikes shake US

"McDonald's workers clearly aren't lovin' Trump's immigration policies,"聽聽"On Thursday, McDonald's restaurants across the United States, along with a聽, closed their doors as part of a nationwide '