Author Maria Taylor

War on wildlife ramps up in NSW

Editorial / Opinion

by Maria Taylor - 14/08/201822/09/2018

WHAT IS IT with killing kangaroos to pay for the misfortunes of Australian graziers and croppers? My colleague suggests it is a control thing, as in ‘can’t control the weather and drought but can control something larger and more visible than weeds’. That something, being a native grazer, has the impertinence

Us and Them — the End Game?

by Maria Taylor - 27/06/201814/08/2018

ABOVE: from a hunting website in Queensland a year ago. As in Queensland, the NSW government is actively calling for 'volunteers' to shoot the wildlife – "to help the farmers" they say. Apart from basic ethical and usefulness issues, in both states there is no evidence of oversight on capacity

NSW State Forests: Destruction of the Leard and threat to The Pilliga

Special Report

by Maria Taylor - 27/08/201828/08/2018

Originally published in The District Bulletin newspaper, March 2016. > View ARCHIVE here.

Trump, Brexit — have we heard the lessons?

Special Report

by Maria Taylor - 14/05/201828/08/2018

As more people in the public squares openly question the globalised, neo-liberal political economy we have inhabited for 30 years, it’s a good time to ask what we in Australia can learn from the head-whirling changes that have struck the western democracies of the US and the UK. What went

State terrorism

Editorial & Commentary

by Maria Taylor - 07/05/201818/05/2018

RECENTLY, I ASKED a Canberra resident, who is a kind woman, what she thought of the ACT’s annual kangaroo culling activity. She made a face, but then said, ‘I know there are too many of them but’… The ‘too many’ narrative indeed goes to the heart of the government propaganda that

Two dozen welfare organisations say STOP to kangaroo slaughter

Kangaroo Archive

by Maria Taylor - 21/04/201824/09/2018

AS BRITISH ANIMAL welfare organisation VIVA announces its latest success in dissuading UK supermarkets from selling kangaroo meat two dozen prominent national and international welfare organisations have joined forces on an open letter explaining why Australians should stop looking the other way and stand up against the ethically bankrupt, cruel

(In case you didn’t know) National party drives NSW environment policy: water, biodiversity, national parks at risk

Environment

by Maria Taylor - 28/02/201822/03/2018

THE NSW NATURE Conservation Council, which has taken the state government to court over regressive new land-clearing permissions, has lauded a report exposing Coalition internal divisions and maneuvers over environmental policies. These policies have the National Party tail wagging the Liberal Party dog – variously on water extraction, logging, or land

Canberra as soap opera and the National Party ethos

by Maria Taylor - 22/02/201823/02/2018

I THINK MANY people are having the same reaction to the soap opera displacing any semblance of responsible governing in our nation’s capital. Like: come on, already! At the same time, I’ll admit the procession of events is fascinating in a slow motion car crash sort of way. What next? With the

NSW minister stonewalls on National Party donor influence with poultry welfare review

State Politics

by Maria Taylor - 14/02/201824/09/2018

THE NSW OPPOSITION and the ABC public broadcaster report that Minister for Primary Industries Niall Blair has refused to answer whether he had personally met and discussed the development of new poultry guidelines with the current Chairman of the NSW National Party and prominent egg producer, Bede Burke. Allegations have surfaced

Poll: business confidence falling in regional NSW

Region / Politics

by Maria Taylor - 14/02/201814/02/2018

Infrastructure promise ignored, millions unspent THE LATEST SENSIS Business Index report found business confidence in regional NSW had fallen 20 points to 34, which is below the national average. Shadow Treasurer Ryan Park said the figures should serve as a wake-up call for the Berejiklian-Barilaro government as business confidence drops. Deputy Premier and