The Fair Work Amendment

February 22, 2021

When I think about the Liberals and the principles which lie beneath their approach to workers' pay and conditions, I think about what I saw when Work Choices came in. One of the most powerful examples that remains with me is the contract my then 16-year-old daughter was asked to sign as part of a before-ballet-school job, working for a couple of hours on a couple of mornings a week at a food retailer with an outdoor store. Not only was it pit...

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News Media and Digital Platforms

February 18, 2021

There is shock and dismay in my community about the sudden ban on accessing news via Facebook. Small local papers like the Blue Mountains Gazette, the Hawkesbury Gazette and the Hawkesbury Post really feel they're going to suffer.

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Changes to the Family Court

February 18, 2021

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Independent Cinemas

February 16, 2021

Independent cinemas aren't known for talking about themselves, and that's because they're often family-run businesses and they're too busy getting on with the business of sourcing movies, selling tickets and delighting their customers with the special touches that, in the case of the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury, their historic or character-filled properties offer. So you have to realise that things are pretty desperate when independent cine...

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Travel Agents in Macquarie

February 16, 2021

Peta Pearson, who works at Helloworld Travel in Richmond Marketplace, has wanted to be a travel agent ever since she was a teenager. She and Claudia Laming love their jobs, helping match holidays to travellers.

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The Safer Communities Fund

February 16, 2021

There is something strange that goes on in the minds of the members of the Morrison government when they think about and make decisions about how they spend the taxpayer funds that they are the custodians of. They see a bottomless bucket of largesse that they can share around wherever it's going to win them votes or save them seats. For a bunch who rabbit on about merit and being good economic managers and who talk about their integrity, their...

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