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Green Bans turn fifty

By Wendy Bacon,

Last week was the fiftieth anniversary of the first Green Ban in Sydney. In this piece for City Hub, I reflect on the Green Ban period and report on this week's events at 'Willow Grove' Parramatta, the site of the most recent Green Ban.

№ 3 in Wading through greenwashing

Bingo still polluting Sydney's West - and how a previous audit revealed landfill problems

By Wendy Bacon,

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.

Thirty years on: How well has Australian media covered deaths in custody?

By Wendy Bacon,

Last month, the failure of Australian governments to implement the 339 recommendations of the 1991 Royal commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody report was a major story in parts of the Australian media. This failure should be no surprise because by 1995, the implementation of the Royal Commission recommendations for change was already described as a 'tragic farce'. In this post, I explore the media's contribution to that failure and signs of both hope and concern thirty years after the Royal Commission.