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How to catch tuna like an Islander
I just went on my most successful fishing trip ever. There wasn’t much to compare it to. The best before that was when I caught half a fish because the tail half got eaten before I reeled it in. So you can imagine how excited I was when I was recently invited to the Pacific island of…
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Hockey exposes us as fair weather friends
With this Budget, Joe Hockey has signaled to the rest of the planet that Australia expects to free ride on the efforts of others. He has abandoned the core Australian value of being true blue, writes David Ritter. Originally published in The Drum. “Hey True Blue, don’t say you’ve gone…” As Australians, we like to…
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Johnson and Johnson: the path to ‘No More Tears’ in Indonesian rainforests
It’s frustrating to think about the link between forest destruction and that bright yellow shampoo that miraculously allowed parents to wash their babies hair without igniting a burning-eyes meltdown. While human babies splashed around on their little tubs, baby orangutans cried for their lost forests and families. Well, that’s about to stop. After months of…
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Great Barrier Reef ‘facts’ TV ads ignore dredge dumping risks
The United Nations is concerned about port expansions and dredging disposal in the Great Barrier Reef – but that bigger picture is ignored in new ‘Reef Facts’ commercials. -By Jon Brodie, James Cook University Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team, CC BY New “Reef Facts” commercials are currently airing during prime-time television shows in Australia, purporting to…
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#AustraliansForCoal is the latest sign of an industry in values freefall
‘The problem for coal is that it is the single greatest driver of climate change’. Originally published in The Guardian Photograph: Tim Wimborne/Reuters During the second world war, my dad performed his war service down the coal mines in the UK. The work cost him his sense of smell, but gave him a profound sense…
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More cans than cigarette butts in clean-up campaign
Why is it every time I try to pay a visit to the managing director of Coca Cola I’m met by police? It started when a small group of us delivered bags of empty bottles and cans to then managing director Terry Davis at his office. It continued when I attempted, with a couple…
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Consumer power! Procter & Gamble decides to wash its bad palm oil away
About 400,000 emails to Procter & Gamble CEO. Thousands of phone calls to P&G offices around the world. Dozens of protests throughout the planet. 7300 Sumatran orangutans at risk of being made homeless. As few as 400 tigers at risk of being made homeless. 620,000 hectares of forest potentially destroyed every year. These numbers summarize…
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Cash for Containers: it makes cents
It’s not often you get a chance to talk directly to your State Premier about something you’re passionate about. But as chance would have it, on Monday night I was able to represent my local area and attend the NSW Community Cabinet Meeting as an advocate for a container deposit scheme. South-West Sydney may not seem…