Category Archives: Western Sydney
Safety Trampolines, One World Government and Giving People a Reason To Join A Party – The Whitlam Institute gives time for Thought
On this May Day that has passed, the University of Western Sydney’s Whitlam Institute organised a political forum called It’s My Party, as a part of the Behind the Lines exhibition that is being hosted at Parramatta’s Riverside Theatres. Labor’s John Faulkner, the Liberals’ Joe Hockey and the Greens’ Bob Brown were invited to outlay […]
The State of Play – NSW
“This election will be decided in Western Sydney.” Labor’s NSW Secretary Sam Dastyari, 26 February 2013 Well, sort of. The definition of “Western Sydney” varies widely depending on exactly what point you’re trying to make and what your vested interest is. But there can be no argument that Labor has some marginal seats there – […]
What is Western Sydney? Part 5 – The Cult of Personality
In this, the last post about Western Sydney (possibly – I am thinking of writing, Douglas Adams style, a 6th Part to the 5 Part series), I will warn you before you read on. Mentioned in this post is Tony Abbott, Julia Gillard, Alan Jones, Ray Hadley, Kevin Rudd, John Howard, even Peter Slipper and James […]
What is Western Sydney? Part Four – Culture and the Clubs
Whenever you hear the phrase “Western Sydney” and “culture”, the jokes come out. Cover bands, RSLs, Panthers, Rooty Hill RSL, UFC, V8s, etc. Cue pictures of Anglo Celtic men of a MMM listening age, or a touch younger, shouting at people and leering at scantily clad women. Or, from those Fat Pizza people, the “fully […]
It’s getting hot out here; or why climate change connects the policy dots in Western Sydney
As part of this series on Western Sydney, climate change may seem like the most unlikely of topics to cover. But for anyone who believes climate change is a real threat, then the projected impacts for people in Western Sydney must be on the table. Everything from transport to housing policy should be incorporating a […]
What is Western Sydney? Part Three – Education
One of the less discussed political issues over the past three years is education – well, less than things like carbon pricing, boats and whether Kevin Rudd should move back into the Lodge with his shaking sauce bottle. For the residents of Western Sydney, however, there are few more important priorities. This is because the […]
What is Western Sydney? Part Two – Transport
Do people remember the Eighties? Specifically 1983? Austen Tayshus’ Australiana was big, as was Bop Girl by Pat Wilson and Reckless by Australian Crawl. It was also when the NSW Wran Government built the section of the M4 between Mays Hill and Parramatta Rd at Strathfield. I was living in Greystanes, 10 minutes west of […]
“Real” Australia
It certainly feels as though we’ll be hearing a lot about Western Sydney this week. The battle, as it were, has begun in earnest, and the PM is shacking up in Rooty Hill to spend nearly a week pandering to this mythic slice of suburbia. With the occasional stop-off at a $12,000-a-table fundraising dinner, of […]
What is Western Sydney? Part One – Housing
In this week of Rootyhillard, I will be writing five posts on this site about 5 different aspects of the Western Sydney experience. Hopefully it will add some insight into a week where there will be a lot of superficial Western Sydney coverage. My fellow Western Sydney resident, Bluntshovels, will also be contributing to this […]
Promising a Great Deal
Rooty Hill has never felt so popular. I’m not going to do the thing of running a search on Google and then breathlessly reporting the number of hits (mostly because it is pretty stupid) but I think it is safe that a LARGE number of stories have been written about the Prime Minister’s decision to […]
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