Aussies all over the country love spending their hard-earned cash on booze. As it turns out, so do our local councils. An investigation by the Statewatch team discovered one council spent $1,703 on a 15-person dinner including $505 on alcohol for 30 beers and 7 bottles of wine. The investigative team sent Freedom of Information…
DetailsIf you’re struggling for Christmas present ideas and with only a month until the end of the world how about an armageddon survival shelter? December 21 is considered by some to be the end of the world as we know it because a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mayan, Mesoamerican Long Count calendar comes to its…
DetailsThere are 15,000 more homeless people in Australia than there were in 2006, according to the latest census figures. But Sydney is bucking the trend according to a council initiative aimed at reducing the number of rough sleepers in the city. The national figures, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on November 12,…
DetailsAuthorities will not attempt to end a rooftop protest at Sydney’s Villawood detention centre. Three Fijian protesters broke through a ceiling onto the rooftop of the two-storey complex on Monday. A Department of Immigration and Citizenship spokeswoman told The Newsroom the department did not know when the protest would end. “We don’t like to get…
DetailsEight swing states will decide who wins this US presidential election. President Obama and Governor Romney have been in top gear on their campaign trail for the past few weeks and with voting stations closed in most eastern states already, the result could come down to one state. A number of major networks across the…
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Super Tuesday could break Australian betting records with the Melbourne Cup, Oz Lotto and the US Presidential election seeing punters part with up to $500 million all on one day. More than 7.5 million Australians will be hoping for a shot at Oz Lotto’s $100 million prize and 5.7 million are expected to have a…
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The vast majority of NSW councils refuse point blank to release supposedly public information on request. The Newsroom’s Statewatch team has spent the past five months requesting detailed figures of travel and entertainment expenditure from NSW councils. Most councils across the state have been reluctant to help. Of 152 local bodies, fewer than 10 have been willing…
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Screenshot of the emergency alert the Kassas family received. Photo courtesy of Kassas family. The Newsroom spoke with Australian expats living in New York city who faced Superstorm Sandy yesterday. The Kassas family from Castle Hill in Sydney are currently living “right in the centre of New York – just a few blocks down from where…
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By simply touching a mobile phone while driving you risk heavy penalties from next week. The new laws, which come into effect on November 1 are part of the 2012 NSW Road Rules changes. Any driver with a mobile phone not completely hands free or fixed to the car will be penalised. For making a…
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