Wendy Bacon Journalist, activist
Menu№ 3 in Wading through greenwashing
The NSW EPA ordered Bingo Industries to install a gas plant to remove unhealthy hydrogen sulphide odours. Two gas flares were lit but the odours continue. Western Sydney residents, backed by local Labor MPs, are calling on the EPA to close the plant down. In this blog post, I reveal long term weaknesses in the landfill's environmental record, management and regulation.
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Bingo Industries is still causing terrible odours in Western Sydney. The EPA has not used its powers to shut the site down but has restricted Bingo's landfill licence and ordered it to install a gas burning plant. Local MPs, Blacktown Council and residents say they won't stop campaigning until the odours are gone for good.
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Bingo has passed its deadline for cleaning up terrible odours affecting thousands of residents in Western Sydney.
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Behind the Greater Sydney Parklands spin - part one
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Stokes gives Star casino go ahead while Packer investigation begins
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Sydney Stadium court case reveals the NSW government can cancel its contract with Lendlease to demolish Sydney Stadium for about $1 million.
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NSW Planning approved WestConnex Stage 3 despite receiving formal advice from the NSW EPA that a more detailed environment assessment of impacts was needed
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“We have never before observed such high values for negative air pollution concentrations as we see in the Westconnex data” – Dr James Whelan, EJA
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Last week RMS submitted its massive Response to Submissions and Preferred Infrastructure Report on behalf of Sydney Motorway Corporation to NSW Planning.
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An apparent conflict of interest has arisen in the choice of the company Pacific Environment.
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Homes, community centres, worksites and open spaces will be exposed to increased health risks if NSW Planning approves WestConnex’s M4/M5 tunnls.
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The NSW EPA has strongly criticised the Sydney Motorway Corporation’s environmental assessment of the proposed WestConnex Stage 3 M4/M5 tunnels.
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The NSW Berejiklian government announced last week that it plans to tear down and rebuild Sydney Cricket Ground Allianz stadium.
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Newtown residents weren't surprised when the NSW government broke its promise that there would no clearways on King St.
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When the first tollway fails to reduce traffic congestion, your next project comes into play. Tollways are the gift to the road lobby.
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The Westconnex planning process is ridden with conflicts of interest. The recent Federal audit report provides more disturbing examples.
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The Crown Land Alliance is calling on NSW MPs to defer the passing of the Crown Land Bill until 2017
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Lucy Turnbull supports the NSW government's development agenda including WestCONnex. If she didn't, she wouldn't be head of the Greater Sydney Commission
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On January 7, I laid a complaint against the NSW Department of Planning & Environment for its inequitable & sloppy handling of submissions to the M4East
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SMH's published but later removed a story about charity fundraising focussing on the Humpty Dumpty Foundation. I explain why I have republished the story.
AECOM was paid millions for the Westconnex M4 East tunnel EIS. Its critics are asking whether gaps & flaws in the EIS are due to conflicts of interest.
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Westconnex's 'community information' kiosk at Marrickville Metro might be better described as publicly funded misinformation
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An edited version of Wendy Bacon's submission to Federal Department of Environment on NSW RMS referral of a threat to endangered species from Westconnex
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A coalition of community groups campaigning to protect public land called for a full parliamentary inquiry into the management of Crown land last night.
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A review of Crown Land dealings with the Paddington Bowling Club has found evidence that an ex-senior Crown Lands officer may have acted "corruptly"
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Inner West residents packed into Leichhardt Town Hall in June to call for a halt to the Westconnex project a parliamentary inquiry has been held.
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With its old management facing criminal charges and its business model broken due to tight alcohol restrictions, Paddington Bowls has closed its doors.
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NSW government is paying millions to global company AECOM to prepare an EIS for the Westconnex motorway. The same company is already helping build it.
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Bruce Begnell knew he owned his home in Welfare Street but couldn't prove it until some old records were unearthed from the NSW State Archives.
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Campaigners against the Westconnex motorway say feedback sessions are a 'sham'; Newtown MP Jenny Leong moved a motion to suspend Westconnex
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As evidence mounts against the case for the Baird government's Westconnex Motorway, Roads Australia guests face mock tollway protest at corporate dinner.
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A new coalition of community groups & health professionals has formed to campaign against hidden health impacts of the Westconnex and Northconnex tollways.
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The Abbott and Baird government continue to keep our community in the dark about Westconnex.
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On March 16, City of Sydney Council organised a meeting to discuss the Westconnex. It ended with a vote to stop the project. Here's my edited speech
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When I tried to unravel the story behind WestConnex, Tony Shepherd threatened to sue me. Here is my reply.
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Welfare Street residents lodge objections to a developer's application to subdivide land on which their Homebush homes stand.
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Dial a Dump accuses Westconnex of being aggressive and secretive in its dealings
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For six months, Westconnex secretly negotiated to buy a waste dump for a giant interchange, without informing the local residents of their plan.
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The NSW government is involved in a land deal organised by a lawyer who hid controversial Obeid family investments.
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A Homebush block was reported in the media as subdivided when sold as 12 properties .When Wendy Bacon investigated she found no subdivision had occurred.
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Who are the private investors 'sold' Welfare St when the NSW government still owned it. Lance Rosenberg is involved but who else? It's hard to find out.
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How developers keen for quick returns moved in on affordable housing on Welfare Street in Western Sydney. Part One: The auction and the media.
A transcript of a confidential hearing in an inquiry into possible corruption in affairs of the Paddington Bowling Club is missing.
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Natalie Lowrey, a Sydney-based environmental defender, remains in Malaysian police custody after a weekend anti-mining protest.
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For a party that was swept to power on a platform of anti corruption and transparency, the NSW Liberal Party is looking very grubby today.
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NSW Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Stoner has announced a review of dealings between NSW Crown Lands and the Paddington Bowling Club
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There's a small issue that has been niggling at me all week. It's about Sinodinos and Packer.
Today's a sad day for many in our neighbourhood because a Woolworths supermarket, which many in our community didn't want, has opened its doors at the end of my street on the boundary of Newtown and Erskineville in inner Sydney.
StopLynas activists visited Sydney in 2012. Wendy Bacon met them at a meeting organised by Greens MP Jamie Parker.This led to a New Matilda investigation.
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Scientists and community leaders are concerned about radioactive waste from Lynas' Malaysian plant but the company representative who took Wendy Bacon's questions brushed off the criticism.
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Australian-owned company Lynas is quietly shipping rare earth to a processing plant in Malaysia - without a firm plan in place to dispose of dangerous radioactive waste. Wendy Bacon reports.
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If James Packer urging Sydneysiders to back his casino plan is 'news', then that's news to Wendy Bacon. She asked senior journalists at the SMH what they thought of Packer's journalistic debut.
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In late October, New Matilda began our series on James Packer's proposal for a new casino in Sydney. I worked on this series with Lawrence Bull.
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This week, New Matilda continued our series on Packer's proposal for a hotel with casino at Barangaroo South on the edge of Sydney Harbour. Lawrence Bull asked two economists what they thought of James Packer's claim that his casino would deliver $400 million to NSW and they raised lots of questions:
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Today, New Matilda published another story in our series on James Packer casino deal. This one explains how casino regulation works in NSW and how O'Farrell's plan to "get on with it" removes a lot of safeguards put in place to protect NSW against organised crime and corrupt influences which have a history targetting casinos.
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Tough laws regulate gambling in NSW - and they're about to be bypassed to help James Packer build his casino. The independence of casino regulation is being challenged. Wendy Bacon reports.
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Packer makes his Sydney casino proposal seem inevitable with strong support from LNP Premier O'Farrell and Treasurer Mike Baird, urged on by NSW Labor
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New Matilda had some questions for NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell about James Packer's casino plans. We got a reply from his office - but no real answers. Here’s our exchange with the Premier’s office.
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No businessman in Australia can rival James Packer's political and business connections. This is a summary of Team Packer in 2012
The Finkelstein report has already put some noses out of joint but it's an important analysis of the current state of the Australian media. Wendy Bacon explains the Inquiry's key findings and recommendations.