The National Collecting Institutions Legislation Amendment Bill 2020 has been presented by the government as innocuous, a simple tidying-up job that will make the legislation which governs six of the national collecting institutions more consistent and allow them to attract more private philanthropy. But you can forgive me for treating anything this government does in the arts portfolio with a healthy dose of scepticism.
Read MoreFour years ago I visited a patch of paddock on the grounds of St Thomas Aquinas and St Columba's and was told a beautiful garden would emerge. Well, sure enough, Springwood Community Garden has become a bountiful place. At the weekend, I watched the bees feasting on plants in the bee-and-butterfly bed in the permaculture garden.
Read MoreGetting your hands dirty—in fact, getting your hands muddy—was the order of the day out the back of the Katoomba headspace at the weekend, with Lis Bastian from the Big Fix continuing her work with young people in creating a permaculture garden.
Read MoreI want to talk about the Narcotic Drugs Amendment (Medicinal Cannabis) Bill 2021 in human terms, with the experience of one family in my electorate as an example. Stephen Taylor has two daughters now in their 20s, Morgan and Ariel, who both suffer from the chronic autoimmune condition Crohn's disease. Mr Taylor and his wife, Karen, spent many years watching their suffering, before he made the decision to grow cannabis in his backyard to help h...
Read MoreWhen Western Sydney airport's EIS was approved by the then minister, Josh Frydenberg, in 2016, it required a huge environmental offsets package to give this project any hope of being accepted. There are vulnerable grey-headed flying fox in the habitat.
Read MoreThe live music industry has pleaded with the government to extend support to musicians and people in the music business, with 3,500 managers, booking agents, stage crew and musicians—all the names you'd know—asking for JobKeeper or a similar scheme to continue.
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