It's bizarre that the federal government intends to hand out rent subsidies to those suffering from 'rental stress' rather than dealing with the matter properly. I fear Harry Triguboff may be right to argue that landlords would use their bargaining power with tenants to end up simply adding the subsidies to the top of existing rents. This ( Read more... )

Urban planning in New South Wales is in strife. Glossy planning documents abound and, at least in theory, the system is consultative and democratic. But there’s a flaw.

Under section 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Infrastructure and Other Planning Reform) Act 2005, the Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor, can assume ( Read more... )

What's the meaning of Mardi Gras?

Brad Ruting

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is a much loved festival filled with artistic, dramatic, social and intellectual activities. And, of course, the parade.

Since it was first held in 1978, the Mardi Gras parade has consisted of colourfully over-dressed cross-dressed gay men and women (and all things in ( Read more... )

"Milton Friedman the great economist could and did acknowledge ambiguity. But Milton Friedman the great champion of free markets was expected to preach the true faith, not give voice to doubts. And he ended up playing the role his followers expected. As a result, over time the refreshing iconoclasm of his early career hardened into a rigid defense ( Read more... )

Well, I've finally finished my paper for the Queer Space: Centres and Peripheries (http://www.dab.uts.edu.au/conferences/queer_space/) conference. After all the proof-reading I'm really quite over this topic.

Anyway, it's posted online at http://xalciene.tripod.com/Ruting_GoldenMile_paper.pdf if anyone wants to read it and/or proffer feedback.

An updated version of an earlier article:

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=5479

(please leave comments)

Some things are just so grotesque that they fascinate. I don't know why. For example, this story about the anatomy department scandal at UNSW, from The Australian. It wasn't on their website, but I just had to post it here because it's, well, a whole new level of disgusting.


( Read more... )

Spot the difference:

SMH, 8 Feb, page 1:

"They show that dozens of organisations, from a cycling club to the Tax Office, became victims of the financial collapse.

A list of unsecured creditors - traditionally the last to recoup money - shows they were owed a total of almost $300,000, including about $100,000 to state and federal agencies.

The ( Read more... )

The annual Sydney Mardi Gras festival has just kicked off, and the next month will be filled with a wide variety of musical, dramatic and social events. On 3 March it will all come to a head with the world-famous parade, now in its 29th year.

Mardi Gras is an entertaining spectacle for a lot of Sydneysiders - both gay and straight - and gives Sydney ( Read more... )

Nicole Gurran is right: unaffordable housing in Sydney can't be dismissed as the outcome of a lack of new land to build on.

However, culpability for poor housing affordability still remains with the state government. Developers will always charge as much as they can get away with. A failure to provide sufficient public housing interspersed with new ( Read more... )