Speech at Newcastle By-election forum

This is my 2 minute speech to the candidates' forum tonight.
You can hear it plus responses to questions I'm on at the 44 minutes and
summing up at 1 hour 10 mins. 30 s, and The Newcastle Herald  reported some of my responses to questions:

Socialist Alliance acknowledges the ongoing sovereignty of Aboriginal people over these lands and pays our respects to Elders, past and present including the children of today who are the elders of tomorrow.
I’m convinced that there are just and workable alternatives to neo-liberal capitalism that are based on democracy, community well-being and cooperation that can be implemented in Newcastle.
As a librarian I am trained to be cooperative.
As a union delegate I am an experienced negotiator. I win some I lose some but I bargain hard. I would do the same for Newcastle.
Socialist Alliance councillors on Moreland and Freemantle Council, for example, have negotiated wins such as affordable housing and ethical investment for their communities.
A socialist vision for Newcastle includes recognising that the world is fast shifting away from coal towards renewable energy sources. We believe that the Hunter can help develop the post

What a socialist member for Newcastle could do

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My opinion piece in the Newcastle Herald - text:

he Independent Commission Against Corruption has shown that the two major parties have presided over a culture of revolving-door corruption in the region.
It was a Labor government that privatised the state dockyards, started to privatise electricity, began the talk about closing the Newcastle rail line, increased TAFE fees, ran down our public transport and sold off the state lotteries.

Campaign launch

Is trickle down economics what we want? No!

 Come along this Sunday - Steve4 Newcastle Campaign launch:-

Come along to talk with Steve O’Brien, Socialist Alliance candidate for Newcastle and Tony O’Beirne, Builders’ Labourers’ Federation and green ban organiser in Sydney and Newcastle during in the 1970s.

Rail sheds, Newcastle East Foreshore Park

10 am-12 noon Sunday 12 October

Lets Save our Rail!

Save our Rail had a stall collected petitions calling for Baird to reconsider closing the rail line on the foreshore as part of steam train festival. They also handed out their great little newspaper which is full of arguments for supporting rail. The inspiring SOR activists will be there tomorrow as well. I helped out for an hour or and signed the petition.

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Alternative to T4- address to PAC

My address to the Planning Assessment Commission which came to Newcastle to discuss the proposed new coal loader (T4) on August 27.
I would like to acknowledge the ongoing sovereignty of Aboriginal people over these lands and pay my respect to Elders, past and present, including the children of today who are the elders of tomorrow.
A number of submissions to this Planning Assessment Commission on the proposed T4 loader have emphasised that the current decline in coal prices and exports is not cyclical, but structural. This fundamental shift is being caused by the rise of the $250 billion per annum (and growing) global renewables industry. Significantly, China has clearly stated that it is starting to reduce its coal use as it shifts to renewables. The global oversupply of coal is a symptom of this development.

NO to CSG

Just signed on to the petition to cancel the licence of the CSG drillers in Sydney. http://stopcsgsydney.org.au/media-release-august-24-2014/#comment-107384

Letterboxing- 100 people, 100 flyers = 10,000 readers

We have started to letterbox our campaign flyer. Thanks to everyone who has pitched in so far, more helpers needed though. We want to get 100 people giving out 100 flyers in their neighbourhood in Newcastle.

Please contact Niko 0406296141 email lekaniko@gmail.com if you feel like doing 10 minutes...