Secret ballot the answer to Labor's secret files

Yesterday's revelations in The Age that the Brumby Government is keeping secret files on citizens should be at the forefront of voters' minds when they go to the polls on Saturday. The secret files - also apparently kept by the Coalition - have no purpose in serving the public interest, but are there to protect the interests of the major political parties.

In the case of Labor, the files should be seen in the context of a Government that has already made deals to provide personal details to large corporations. It is also a Government already under fire for its dirt unit tactics against political opponents. The combination of Labor's propensity for dirty campaigning and its gathering of personal information should be distressing to anyone concerned with open, accountable democracy.

In Northcote, we have already seen smear tactics employed against a local climate campaigner by Northcote MP, Fiona Richardson, who is on Labor's campaign committee.

I would be curious to see if the campaigner recently smeared by Richardson in the Melbourne Times Weekly appears on the ALP's secret database, but we may never know.

There's a simple antidote to Labor's secret files - it's called a secret ballot, and it's coming up on Saturday.

Fiona Richardson climate protest tomorrow

Update: A picture from the protest at Fiona Richardson's office. There were plenty of cars "honking for real action on climate change".

Local climate groups will tomorrow morning hold a pre-election protest outside the Northcote electorate office of Labor's Fiona Richardson MP. As a climate-progressive independent candidate for the 2010 Victorian State election, I will be joining them.

At the protest, Darebin Climate Action Now and the Australian Youth Climate Coalition will send a strong signal to the Brumby Government that its weak climate measures will be swamped by emissions from the continued burning of brown coal to generate electricity. The clock is ticking before we cross irreversible climate tipping points.

Despite initiatives such as the Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan, which shows that a ten-year transition to renewable power generation is possible, the Brumby Government persists with the myth that a few renewables projects are enough to compensate for dirty emissions from brown coal - it just isn't true.

A good start to a more positive approach would be the total closure and renewable energy replacement of the Hazelwood brown-coal-fired power station within the next term of Government. Unfortunately, John Brumby is too committed to listening to the coal lobby.

Fiona Richardson is the local representative of Labor's climate destructive policies, so please join the protest and use your vote on Saturday to support a candidate promoting strong, science-based action that stands a chance of securing a safe climate.

Is it it coal or climate, Mr Brumby? The science says you can't have both. 

Where: 404 High Street, Northcote
(Just north of Separation Street, on the right heading out of the city)
When: 8.00-9.00am, Wednesday 24 November

For further information:

Carol Ride
Convenor
Darebin Climate Action Now
0408 320 080

Richardson's climate spin gets past the Times

In its 17 November edition, the Melbourne Times Weekly (MTW) has reported uncritically an attack by Labor MP, Fiona Richardson, on a Northcote Vote Climate campaign scorecard that rates Labor poorly on its climate commitments. Two independents, including myself, topped the ratings.

The report makes the unsubstantiated claim that the other independent, Adrian Whitehead, an Upper House candidate for the Northern Metropolitan Region, authored the Northcote scorecard being letter-boxed by Darebin Climate Action Now, giving himself a top rating. The headline of the story read "'Report card' author gives himself all As".

Climate groups have rejected the claim point-blank, defending the scoring process as independent of all candidates who were rated in every seat where the scorecards are being distributed. A retraction has been demanded from the newspaper in next week's edition, with climate groups noting the absence of any right of reply in the story itself.

Further criticisms of the campaign in the report include comments discounting the scorecard's value made by a business associate of Fiona Richardson's husband. The paper fails to declare this connection in the report itself, and on Wednesday I rang MTW calling for an acknowledgment of the link and an explanation to readers of how these comments came to be reported.

Richardson's statement that the research is "deliberately misleading" also remains unconvincing. The scorecard accurately presents party and candidate positions regarding the commitments that science says are necessary to achieve a safe climate. It notes, for example, Labor's failure to commit to the use of renewable energy to completely replace Hazelwood, Australia's dirtiest coal-fired power station, by 2014.

If Richardson deems this unclear or misleading, she must explain why the call to close the power station has been endorsed by Professor David Karoly, who led the Premier's own climate change reference group.

In a more balanced report in this week's Northcote Leader, Richardson says the scorecard is misleading because a judgment has been made based on what the candidates have said, rather than on what they can deliver.

The reality is that no single MP - government or independent - can guarantee particular proposals will be implemented. However, the candidates who rated well on the scorecard have made a clear commitment to advocate in Parliament for necessary action.

Labor's position - with which Richardson has not disagreed - would only "deliver" further significant climate change, contributing, among other impacts, to more frequent and severe bushfires in Victoria, such as the catastrophic fires of Black Saturday.

The MTW report further notes that Environment Victoria's own recently launched scorecard "drew different conclusions" - without saying what they were, but suggesting the Vote Climate scorecard was somehow inaccurate. Readers may have benefited from knowing the environment group gave Labor an overall score of just 47% on its broad environmental policies, including climate.

These are the issues the paper must now address in its last edition before the State election.

Further, as MTW has implied preference-dealing among candidates with strong climate policies - and therefore ranked highly on the scorecard - it should examine Labor's preference deal with the anti-environment Country Alliance Party, including a possible link with the party in Northcote itself.

Yesterday I sent detailed information to MTW on these matters - together with a corroborating copy to an independent third party. The test of the paper's objectivity and fairness will be how it reports in the countdown to 27 November.

As for Fiona Richardson, voters can send a message to the Brumby Government by giving their first preference to a candidate with clear policies supporting strong climate outcomes.

Further information:

Darebin Climate Action Now - Election Q and A
My climate policies
Climate - ALP style

Richardson's lip-service on planning

Here's the unedited version of a letter published in today's Melbourne Times Weekly in response to a 3 November article that spoke of Fiona Richardson's muted approval of the Brumby planning approach as "dissent" ("Dissent in ALP camp not part of the plan").

Fiona Richardson's tepid defence of the Brumby Government's planning record was too lukewarm to warrant the description of "dissent" in your headline. It's easy to call for community input, but quite another thing to allow local communities to actually influence the outcome of big planning decisions.

How far do voters think Richardson will stray from the ALP party line, as Planning Minister Justin Madden evades scrutiny of the planned sham consultation on the Windsor Hotel project, and big planning decisions are made in the shadow of the election care-taker period?

With Amcor's Fairfield plant and the Arthurton Road site just two big potential developments that are up in the air as we go to the State election, voters should suspect reassuring future commitments to consultation from the Northcote representative of a Brumby planning system that too often excludes a community say.

The planning equation needs to include more than profits for developers. We need sustainable communities, where housing is more affordable and provision is made for the disadvantaged.

The way we build these communities is through the democratic participation of the people who live in them. That's not happening. Lip-service is not enough, Ms Richardson. True dissent will not come from an MP within Government.

What I might also have said is that developers have been among the biggest donors to the Victorian Labor Party. That's why I've called for developer donation disclosures as part of the planning application process for big developments.

If you're concerned about planning and live in the electorate of Northcote, please consider my planning policies (and the others!).

Northcote climate Q & A video now available

Video is now available from a Climate Change Q & A held last Monday at Northcote Town Hall for local candidates in the 2010 Victorian State election. The event was organised by Darebin Climate Action Now, where links to all the Q & A presentations have now been published.


Climate Change Q & A - Darren Lewin-Hill from DarebinCAN on Vimeo.

The presenters included Labor's Northcote MP and 2010 candidate, Fiona Richardson, the Liberal  Northcote candidate, Steve Moran, myself, the Greens candidate, Anne Martinelli, and independent Upper House candidate for the Northern Metropolitan Region, Adrian Whitehead. 

Read the original post about the event, and, if you like, my presentation notes. There are also lots of posts about climate change available on this blog.

Of course you may then like to read Fiona Richardson's Goldilocks theory about the Victorian Government's climate action plan, or my analysis of Labor's tactics for communicating about climate change.

Finally, don't forget to read about my other policies as well!

Richardson reads Goldilocks on climate

Media release

An update of an environment scorecard just released by Environment Victoria has undermined claims by Northcote Labor MP, Fiona Richardson, that environment groups somehow applauded the Government's inadequate climate measures, according to independent candidate, Darren Lewin-Hill.

Richardson made the claims at a climate Q &A held on Monday night organised by Darebin Climate Action Now at Northcote Town Hall.

Overall the scorecard rates the party at 47%, and scored it only 50% on its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, 25% on banning new conventional coal-fired power stations, and zero for its failure to rule out new allocations of brown coal for export.

"While painting the Government's measures as 'just right', Richardson dismisses as extreme the science-based proposals calling for a rapid transition to zero emissions and the replacement of the Hazelwood coal-fired power station with renewable energy within the next term of government.

"If she thinks Labor's climate strategy is 'just right', she's read Goldilocks and the Three Bears once too often, and Victoria is set to get too hot," Mr Lewin-Hill said.

He said that Richardson's approach at the Q & A was part of a deliberate strategy by Labor to appear moderate and sensible on climate, but it failed to stand up to scrutiny. He has analysed the strategy more fully at his blog, Northcote Independent.

Richardson's appearance at the Q & A came in the wake of Morgan polling that showed Northcote has more voters concerned about global warming and climate change than any other seat (34.7%).

"It's not surprising, then, that there were a few Labor plants in the audience making pretty weak attacks on anyone calling for climate action," Lewin-Hill commented.

He said Richardson bristled at one admitted ALP member who clearly hadn't been worded up, and who criticised the party's climate policies, commenting that: "I know climate change is happening, because I'm from New Zealand, where we now see icebergs floating past our country".

Darren Lewin-Hill
0404 526 555

Northcote independent calls for developer donation disclosures

Media release

Independent candidate for Northcote, Darren Lewin-Hill, has called for donation disclosures as part of the public application process for all significant developments. The call follows a report in The Age earlier this year that developers had donated millions of dollars to the ALP in Victoria.

"This inconvenient truth seems to have been forgotten in the election debate, and I think it would add to the transparency and accountability of planning decisions in this State," Lewin-Hill said today.

Under the plan, developers would need to disclose as part of their planning application whether they had made donations to the ruling party of the day - Labor or Coalition. There would need to be further discussion regarding the amount that would trigger the disclosure requirement, but it would be there to see for any local resident who wanted to know.

"We're all familiar with the planning permit signs put up on development sites. Let's include on them just how much a given developer has handed over to the political party in power at the time. Wouldn't that be refreshing?" Lewin-Hill said.

Along with the donations to the Labor party from big developers, the Brumby Government has been short on accountability in the area of planning, with its evasiveness in the Windsor Hotel sham consultation affair hardly instilling confidence that all is well in Victorian planning.

Mr Lewin-Hill said there were a number of large developments slated for the Northcote electorate, held by Labor's Fiona Richardson by a margin of 8.5%. He said these would come to fruition in the next term of government, and local residents should be able to see whether any developer of any major site had ever been a donor to the Labor party, and at what level.

"Maybe these sites will be developed by companies with no donation history, but residents deserve to know. The disclosure of political donations of all sorts is something on which there really ought to be a crack-down over the next four years, and independents are well placed to do that," Mr Lewin-Hill said.

Darren Lewin-Hill
0404 526 555

Presenting on climate at Northcote Town Hall

On Monday night I presented on climate at an election Q & A at Northcote Town Hall organised by Darebin Climate Action Now. There will be more on this soon - possibly including a video - but for now, I've published my presentation notes for voters who are concerned about climate change as a key issue in the 2010 Victorian State election.

Also presenting at the forum were Upper House independent candidate, Adrian Whitehead, the Greens' Anne Martinelli, the Liberal candidate, Steve Moran, and Labor's Northcote MP, Fiona Richardson.

I'll be saying more here about the ALP's political tactics around climate, but that's it for now. Be sure to catch page 5 of this week's Northcote Leader, which has good coverage about the climate concerns of Northcote voters, and a welcome report about my decision to run as an independent in the seat.

Finally, don't forget my other policies, and there's also a page where you can read a bit more about me if you're interested.

Northcote independent rallies to close Hazelwood

Media release

Independent candidate for Northcote, Darren Lewin-Hill, will join today's rally to close the Hazelwood coal-fired power station in a show of support for strong action on climate change.

"Today will see thousands of people devote far more time than the fraction of 90 seconds Premier John Brumby gave to climate change in his summing up in last night's leaders' debate," the candidate said.

It was disappointing that climate change rated the barest mention, when the Premier had spoken earlier on the Wonthaggi desalination plant and the Black Saturday bushfires.

"These issues ride on the back of climate change, which was very much the elephant in the room in last night's debate for voters concerned about the environment, " he said.

"The Government is making much of its proposed climate change legislation, but weak targets for the adoption of renewable energy can't compensate for the emissions from the State's continuing reliance on brown coal for energy production and proposed export on a massive scale," he said.

"What we currently have is a vague plan for the partial closure of Hazelwood, at the same time the Government is considering a new brown coal gasification plant in the Latrobe Valley and a new port at Hastings to deal with the projected volume of brown coal exports," Mr Lewin-Hill said.

Australia is the world's largest exporter of coal and is on track to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's largest exporter of carbon.

Professor David Karoly, a leading climate scientist who will speak at the rally, has estimated that, over its currently proposed lifetime, Hazelwood will produce around 920 million tonnes of carbon dioxide - the most powerful factor in dangerous global warming - unless the plant is closed.

"Existing technologies can replace Hazelwood with 100 per cent renewable energy, at the same time providing sustainable jobs for regional Victoria," Mr Lewin-Hill said.

"The issue of climate change belongs in the platform of every candidate in this State election, not just those from parties traditionally associated with concern for the environment."

The rally, organised by Environment Victoria, will commence at 1pm at the State Library of Victoria in Swanston Street.

The candidate is available for interview by phone or in person at any time today on 0404 526 555.

On Monday night at Northcote Town Hall (7-9pm), Mr Lewin-Hill will take part in a climate Q & A including Northcote MP, Fiona Richardson. The event is being hosted by the Darebin Climate Action Network (DarebinCAN).

Comments welcome!

Labor fears the loss of seats, but not in Northcote

The Age has reported on a leaked Labor strategy to save embattled seats in the forthcoming State election. Its planned campaign blitz of 31 seats at various levels of risk will see more than $1.7 million spent on campaigns to shore up the party's chances in the tightening contest. In the wake of the unjustified personal attack on Greens candidate Brian Walters in the seat of Melbourne, voters should ask just what sort of campaigning those funds will be supporting.

Of course, risk to the Labor party isn't quite the same as risk to democracy, and we should also have a closer look at the numbers in this poll. If Labor loses 13 seats and they all go to the Coalition, it will lose Government to Ted Baillieu, whose party would have a majority of just one seat, presuming the current independent, Craig Ingram, holds his.

Yet some of these seats will surely fall to independents and Greens, raising the prospect of a hung Parliament if neither of the main parties secures a majority. On the evidence of the recent federal result, that may well lead to public interest reforms and a deeper, more principled policy debate - no bad thing for democracy in Victoria.

As for the law and order and "nanny state" issues on which Labor feels exposed, these seem the traditional fare of the Coalition. An excessive focus on them will only further demonstrate that the major parties are moving closer together, and that real alternatives are needed.

Of special note for Northcote voters is that the key inner-Melbourne seat is nowhere among the 31 Labor appears to be worried about. Labor's Northcote MP, Fiona Richardson, says she doesn't take voters for granted, but the leaked strategy shows that she thinks she's already across the line in this election.

Comments welcome!

Bracks enlisted for Richardson's Northcote ALP launch

Former Victorian Premier, Steve Bracks, was tonight enlisted to launch a bid to "Keep Northcote Labor" and re-elect Right faction Labor Unity MP, Fiona Richardson, who has held the State seat since her election in 2006.

Northcote is one of four inner-Melbourne seats now under threat from the Greens, and the recent federal election poses the question of whether Martin Ferguson's poor result in Batman will translate to a State political poll among a constituency shared between the State and federal seats.

Labor concern over Northcote is one reason why the popular Mr Bracks may have been called into play, but it should be remembered that his famous victory in 1999 marked the rise of the Independents in Victoria, and the federal hung Parliament may yet be echoed in the State result, to the benefit of Greens and Independents - not to mention more representative and participatory democracy.

The launch event held, at Northcote's Regal Ballroom, attracted a lively crowd, among them climate campaigners protesting the Victorian Government's addiction to brown-coal-fired electricity generation, including its current consideration of a proposal by HRL for a brown-coal-gasification plant in the Latrobe Valley.

The Brumby Government has made much noise of late about its proposed partial closure of International Power's Hazelwood plant, Australia's dirtiest coal-fired power station, but the HRL proposal, if approved, would negate any emissions savings from that inadequate measure.

The Government has also focused talk of compensation for the partial Hazelwood closure on International Power, rather than workers who may be displaced by the transition to a low-emissions economy. The mooted billions of compensation to the corporate giant would also redirect vital public funds away from investment in renewable energy projects that could generate sustainable jobs in the same region.

With a string of negative issues besieging the Victorian Government - from Dirt Units to dirty coal - Labor will be sorely challenged to sanitise its image by parading Mr Bracks before Victorian voters cast their ballots on 27 November.

Local Labor keen to draw Gillard link

The Northcote Leader has run with a story suggesting a close relationship between new prime minister, Julia Gillard, and local State and Federal MPs, Fiona Richardson and Martin Ferguson. I left the following comment on the story, and it will be interesting to see if it gets up:

With Martin Ferguson behind the "meteoric rise" of new prime minister, Julia Gillard, what hope do we really have either for urgent climate action or for a robust resources tax that won't be just a backdown in the face of a powerful mining lobby? After all, Martin has been on a listening tour to the mining magnates.

As for Fiona Richardson, she may well try to wring out a few votes by association with Australia's first female prime minister, but why not ask the two other women known at this stage to be running for State and Federal Parliament what it means for them to have a woman as prime minister? Could it be because they are running for the Greens?

We should also remember that the Richardson association cuts both ways - it ties Gillard to the factional apparatus of the Victorian Right. Surprise, surprise.

Comments welcome.

Fiona Richardson: climate change 'delivered'?

Labor's Member for Northcote, Fiona Richardson MP, has already switched into election campaign mode with a string of local visits to shops, including today's sales-pitch at Northcote Plaza.

Richardson is pushing local achievements she claims to have 'delivered', but Darebin Climate Action Network is making sure the community also makes the link with the climate track record of the Brumby Labor Government that Richardson represents.

With the Federal Government shelving emissions trading until at least 2013, the pressure is on the Victorian Government to fill the climate action vacuum. Yet the State Government is committed to expanding coal mining and addicted to coal-fired energy generation through plants such as the massively polluting Hazelwood.

DarebinCAN distributed fact sheets about our dirtiest power station, and to drive the message home, I presented Richardson with a letter asking that she tell Northcote voters where she stands on climate (click on the arrow at top right to expand).




Part of Richardson's promotion was a flyer indicating she could help constituents by 'Raising an issue in Parliament'. I call on my local State Member to raise in Parliament the issues communicated in my letter, so they can be heard by every Member of the Legislative Assembly, including Peter Batchelor and Premier John Brumby. I'll also be awaiting a written response from Richardson, as will other community members who presented their own letters to the MP.

Like Martin Ferguson, the Federal Member for Batman, Richardson is gearing her campaign to the local achievements she has 'delivered'. While these certainly need to be debated, we should also ask what else is being 'delivered' for Northcote. Emissions from Australia's fossil fuel exports and domestic power-generation are delivered to the global atmosphere, but the impacts of climate change will be localised - everywhere. Questioning politicians about climate change is therefore vital.

Fiona Richardson, where do you stand? Are the only issues you'll raise in Parliament those that are consistent with Labor Party policy? That's too easy for you, too hard on our climate.

Comments welcome

No progress months after rushed Roberts St demo

Back on 1 April 2008, I received an email from a director at the Office of Housing regarding my asbestos concerns in the demolition of the 47-unit derelict public housing estate at Roberts Street, Northcote. Given WorkSafe approval, he said, 'there is no need to further delay the work as the sooner we start the sooner tenants can be housed and I am sure you would support this.'

Indeed I very much support the timely housing of public tenants, but given that five months later the site is still lying vacant - the demolition having been completed in April - the community is entitled to ask just what was the rush to demolish the contaminated estate given valid residents' concerns about the management of asbestos in the process?

Readers of this blog will recall that just days before asbestos removal started on a day of extreme winds in Melbourne (Wednesday 2 April), the Office of Housing and Northcote MP, Fiona Richardson, were pressured to hold the only public meeting on the issue in the face of a raft of unanswered questions that were to remain inadequately addressed when the works started.

With the land now lying vacant for months despite a 40,000-strong public housing waiting list, it seems the real rush was to kill the asbestos issue. Gone from Housing's redevelopment site is the asbestos audit, and indeed any mention of asbestos on the site. They're pretty good at cleaning up public interest information. It's almost as if the issue never existed, but you can still read all about it here.

Update on WorkSafe response

It's been a while since I wrote an update on the Roberts Street issue, so, with the flats now well and truly gone, it's high time I reported the outcome of my attempts to get useful information out of WorkSafe about asbestos inspections during the demolition.

The last time we left our trusty workplace safety watchdog (14 May), I had received a call from Executive Director, John Merritt, and was unusually hopeful of some answers. A bit later that day, I received a call from a senior officer at the local WorkSafe office, whose statements, in my view, raised more questions than they answered. I perhaps somewhat impolitely instructed him over the phone to get back to me with some answers, and fired off another email to Merritt detailing the shortcomings of the response so far.

The following day (15 May) I received a string of bullet points from our safety guardian that...failed to answer the central questions about this issue. Merritt's response varied from that received over the phone a day earlier from the local office regarding the nature of the works undertaken on 2 April and the time inspectors were on-site. It should also be mentioned there were a number of differences between the account by the local office on 14 May and the account it gave on 2 April, the day asbestos removal works began at the Roberts Street Northcote site. Anyhow, I suppose we are to take Merritt's response as the official line.

That being the case, Merritt states in his 15 May email that no external works took place on 2 April, and that the works that did proceed took place inside, in 'confined areas'. These last words were a new addition to the WorkSafe account, and presumably put there to counter the unseemly possibility that 'inside' meant inside the units at Roberts Street that had broken windows or missing window frames and that were therefore potentially open to the extreme wind conditions on the day.

There was no mention in Merritt's email of what was meant by 'confined' and what checks were made to ensure that no work was done inside the units open to the outside.

Merritt also states in the email that the inspectors, in the course of their inspection on 2 April, discussed procedures for removing asbestos in 'adverse weather conditions', and also discussed the 'inclement' conditions themselves. Judge for yourself whether this answers the central question, asked time and time again, as to whether WorkSafe advised or directed that works finish early that day (as two accounts suggest they did) due to the weather conditions - namely, extreme winds that left thousands without power across Melbourne.

What WorkSafe's response really highlights is that they are unwilling to meaningfully answer hard questions where it involves the actions of a government department, and the potential for political embarrassment of a government that has touted exemplary asbestos safety in a major public housing redevelopment. It would be a very bad look indeed if WorkSafe publicly stated that asbestos removal had proceeded on a day when weather conditions argued against it, even if, as WorkSafe has stated, internal removal works under the prevailing conditions were permitted under the asbestos regulations.

A few hard questions and WorkSafe becomes so tangle-footed they're lucky they're not up on a building scaffold. And what does this show about the WorkSafe ads Tim Holding cites when defending the Victorian Labor Government's excessive advertising spend? They're a rather black joke - propaganda about public safety is not the same as accountable and transparent action to protect it.

The Office of Saying Nothing

That's my proposed name-change for the Office of Housing following the news on its Roberts Street redevelopment website today that demolition works proper began...today. That's right, the buildings are now being knocked down with zero days' notice from the Housing website.

To this our bureaucratic champion of public disclosure added the late-breaking 'news' that asbestos removal concluded... Tuesday last week (8 April), with air-monitoring supposedly showing we have nothing to worry about – despite the strong likelihood that official results will never be released, and that we won't be told what sampling arrangements were in place.

Nor, it seems, can we expect that the results of the further testing recommended by Housing's own audit will be made available any time soon.

In fact, Housing would not even respond to an email to redevelopment.robertsstreet@dhs.vic.gov.au asking them who is the official keeper of air-monitoring and testing results, so that those seeking the information through freedom of information laws might know who to ask without being given the bureaucratic run-around.

Instead, the Office of Housing has devoted itself to saying as little as possible at the last possible moment. Here's a snapshot of the update published today, and here's a snapshot from Google showing the last previous update. It shows definitively that 8 April was the last time the site was updated, at which stage there was no mention of the completion of asbestos removal on that very day, nor of the start of demolition being scheduled for today. The inescapable conclusion is that these useful snippets were unequivocally added only today – what a great effort!

If the Office of Housing wins the gold medal in keeping the lid on public interest information, then with them on the podium is WorkSafe. The so-called safety watchdog – seemingly so responsive until the hard questions began to be asked – still hasn't come clean on any directions it gave on site on Wednesday 2 April, a day of record winds, and also a day on which Housing was happy to have asbestos removal works proceed.

As noted previously, we've had the line that the works were undertaken inside, but WorkSafe still hasn't answered questions about the steps it took to ensure that 'inside' didn't mean inside any of the units with broken windows or no window frames at all. That some of the units were clearly in this condition is shown in YouTube video I know WorkSafe has viewed, and yet it doesn't think we deserve a response. A senior officer of WorkSafe's Preston office admitted on the phone on 2 April that asbestos removal works finished early on that day, even that it was likely because of the wind. Did WorkSafe direct or advise that works finish early? If so, what of Housing's decision to even start?

The only thing saving the Office of Housing from major embarrassment on this project is the lack of media willing to devote the resources to look into it. Our local media – with the exception of the public-interest-oriented Radio 3CR – have shown themselves lacking in this regard, while the larger media have many issues pressing for attention.

That's not to say that what gets media coverage equates with what needs it in the public interest, and therein lies the problem. Until that equation becomes more balanced, bureaucracies like Housing will ignore issues on which they feel immune from media exposure. That is to say, they will ignore you – even when it comes to valid concerns over asbestos in a 47-unit public housing redevelopment.

WorkSafe yet to respond on asbestos video

WorkSafe, a division of the Victorian WorkCover Authority, is yet to respond to questions asked last week surrounding film of asbestos workers on a public housing redevelopment site on Wednesday 2 April, a day of extreme winds in Melbourne.

On that day, asbestos removal began at the derelict Roberts Street Northcote estate, with workers filmed on-site in full protective gear, including half-face respirators.

Following a report to WorkSafe's advisory line at about 9.30am, advice received from WorkSafe late in the afternoon indicated that a morning inspection sometime after the filming found that works were proceeding 'in accordance with regulations'. Worksafe also advised that regulations permitted asbestos removal inside on such days. Works did, however, finish around midday (earlier, according to one resident), with the watchdog saying this was likely because of the wind.

The as-yet-unanswered questions arise because the film of workers on-site on 2 April taken together with an earlier film of the estate cast doubt on whether asbestos removal inside actually meant inside units with smashed windows and, in at least one case, no window frame at all. What WorkSafe has so far failed to answer is whether any asbestos removal work on 2 April took place in units open to the outside extreme wind conditions in this way. Was this question even asked on the morning of its own inspection? Did it in fact order or advise that the works be stopped because of the wind?

Queries about the film were sent to a number of senior WorkSafe officers, including WorkSafe Executive Director, John Merritt. A written response was requested, given that WorkSafe was clearly aware of community concerns about asbestos safety with this project because it had attended a public meeting on 28 March in the adjacent park.

Since the minister for housing, Richard Wynne, the Office of Housing, and Northcote MP Fiona Richardson have all been touting the asbestos safety measures for the project, it is beholden on WorkSafe to hold the government to account and prove it is not a toothless tiger when it comes to asbestos safety. It should answer the questions posed by the two videos, and come clean about what questions were asked and what action was taken during its inspection on Wednesday 2 April at Roberts Street Northcote.

The films about asbestos at the Roberts Street estate are available at:

http://www.youtube.com/lewinhill

Roberts Street web 'updates' way too late

The Office of Housing continued its retrospective website 'updates' tonight (8 April) by telling us for the first time online that asbestos removal works began on the Roberts Street Northcote public housing estate on Wednesday 2 April (a day of horrendous winds, as many people will recall, but then the works were said to be inside – more follow-up on that very soon).

Well, to set the record straight, here's a PDF of what the Roberts Street redevelopment website looked like only yesterday morning. This shows that, at that stage, the website had last been updated on 2 April, and was still advising on 7 April – five days after the actual start of asbestos removal – that the works had been delayed and a start date would be advised.

Sorry guys, but you can't inform people in advance retrospectively – especially when your public disclosure is so generally poor and people relied on your website for information they needed to have before the works began. I have another PDF showing the site just this morning in a similar state of outdatedness, and will upload that soon.

Housing continues its slack public disclosure

You wouldn't know from the Office of Housing's Roberts Street website that asbestos removal works started on the site yesterday. As of about 6.00pm tonight, the site still showed that works had been delayed, even though they'd updated the site yesterday to put the control plan up. The bureaucrats may just be slow, but for community members who have only recently become aware of the issue, a Google search will deliver the site as the top search result and they will consequently be misled about what's going on in their local neighbourhood.

Slow web updates aside, what you also can't expect from the Office of Housing, housing minister, Richard Wynne, and Northcote MP Fiona Richardson is any kind of explanation about why they directed or were prepared to allow works to proceed on such a windy day. I have sent WorkSafe a link to my video taken in yesterday's extreme conditions and have requested their response to the issues I believe it raises. At the very least, the video provides quite reasonable grounds for concern and valid questions in the public interest.

Add to that the start of the works just days after the government's only public meeting on asbestos safety in the project, the lack of any commitment to release the results of further testing, let alone the results of air monitoring (including for yesterday), and you can clearly see that the poor public disclosure on this project results in as few people as possible becoming fully informed about what is going on.

The good news is that the YouTube videos made of the site are reaching a few people courtesy of this blog (55 views for the first video and 13 for the second as of this writing). To see an update on viewer numbers, have a look at my YouTube video profile page Viewers who happen to find the videos independently at YouTube are also directed to further information on this site and to my email to ensure they have the full details, can ask questions, or leave comments – whether they agree with me or not. How long will it take Housing to get its far better resourced website up-to-date?

As usual, questions, comments and debate are most welcome.

Roberts Street asbestos removal on film

As promised, here's a short YouTube video of asbestos-related activities at the Roberts Street Northcote public housing estate covering from Monday to yesterday morning. I speak to the workers from outside the safety cordon towards the end of the clip.

To play the video, hit the triangular button at the bottom of the embedded video, or view it directly at the YouTube site.

To read about my dealings with the Office of Housing, WorkSafe et al during the day, please read the previous post, 'WorkSafe visits a very windy Roberts Street'.

Comments and email are most welcome.