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We have some well developed policies for the upcoming elections. But we’d love to hear from you: what matters to you? What would you like to see Council do? Or stop doing?
This is an open thread - leave a post on any topic you’d like. Click on the picture or on the ‘Add Comment’ link above.
Over to you.
Above: coloured cardboard and butchers paper aplenty at Bronwyn Pike’s electorate office, 27/8/08.
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What you didn’t know about the State Government’s Victorian Transport Plan:
- ‘Public’ consultation has already closed!
- $10bn East-West Road Tunnel to be automatically adopted by the plan.
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Melburnians woke yesterday morning to a curious piece in The Age, 
Tunnel critics shunned by Pike transport forum, by Clay Lucas.
CRITICS of a $9 billion road tunnel plan have been barred from a Government forum this afternoon to discuss transport plans for Melbourne …
Opponents of the proposed 18-kilometre tollway, which would run from Footscray to Clifton Hill, have been told they cannot attend today’s forum, being staged by the Education Minister and MP for Melbourne, Bronwyn Pike.
That the government might be fed up with anti-tunnel protests is not surprising. What was surprising was that a transport forum for the state seat of Melbourne was being held at all: transport experts and activists alike knew nothing of the meeting until Residents’ Groups received their invitations a week earlier.
What was even more surprising was the forum itself. A mere 20 people gathered at the invitation-only event, and quickly discovered that they were taking part in what would be the first and only consultation session for the whole of the Melbourne electorate for the development of the state government’s Victorian Transport Plan.
The two farcical hours that ensued could have been lifted straight from a script of The Hollowmen.
Click ‘read more’ for an insight into the meeting from one of the attendees, and discover why the $10bn East-West Road Tunnel will be automatically adopted by the Victorian Transport Plan, as well as the unique definition of ‘community consultation’, according to the State Government…
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The book comes after years of tireless work: Kathleen’s dedication to assisting trafficked women and exposing the hidden workings of the prostitution industry has helped to put trafficking on the national agenda.
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Trafficked tells the story of a rare human rights campaign that succeeded in changing government policy to protect women smuggled into Australia each year to work in the sex trade.
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In 2003, the Coronial Inquiry into Puongtong Simaplee’s 2001 death at the Villawood Detention Centre put the issue of trafficking for prostitution in Australia on the national agenda for the first time.
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Trafficked contains first-person accounts of women like Puongtang, stories that inspired women’s groups to make sure trafficked women could no longer be ignored. You can order a copy of the book here.
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