© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Newcastle

Read more about the article The word from Australia’s masters

The word from Australia’s masters

Opinion by Greg Ray The floggings will continue until morale improves. That’s the word from Australia’s real government – the energy and mining industry. According to the head of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, Ian Davies, “political attacks” on the energy industry could kill investment and make consumer prices go even higher than they are now. In other words, shut up and take your lumps, otherwise we will belt you harder. Naturally, in the lala-land of the Murdoch press this warning is reported with solemn gravity. Don’t be nasty to the big bosses or…

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Read more about the article Conductresses on the buses – and back off again

Conductresses on the buses – and back off again

IN late 1942, Australia was committed to total war in the Pacific. Its economy was practically 100 per cent geared to war production and "manpower" was a critical problem. A country with a relatively small population, it was isolated from accustomed imports, had large numbers of men fighting or in enemy captivity overseas and was struggling to boost industrial production. More and more men were drawn from their pre-war occupations and put into uniform, leaving big gaps in the industries from which they had been taken. The government turned to Australia's women for part of the…

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Read more about the article De-privatising the power industry
Liddell Power Station. Photo by Ron Morrison.

De-privatising the power industry

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is right about electricity generation and supply. The system built and maintained by the state with public money should never have been sold to private investors. And his conclusions hold true not just for Victoria but for NSW. I well remember sitting in the office of the editor of The Newcastle Herald, during the inglorious tail end of a long string of Labor governments, listening to ALP heavyweight Michael Costa trying to sell the benefits of privatisation. He wanted positive coverage in the paper, and when reporter Ian Kirkwood pointed out some…

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