The Independent Journal - 2004
These news articles are written by Online Journalism students during second semester 2004.
Editor: Dr Usha Manchanda Rodrigues
Web Developer: Russell Stewart
--- Election Special Issue October 2004 ---
Tertiary Education: a contentious election issue
- By Ajay Menakuru
Tertiary education has emerged as a contentious issue in the run up to the elections with both the opposition and government claiming their policies are better for the future of Australia than the other major party. Brendan Nelson and Jenny Macklin provided their education policy details to Ajay Menakuru …more
Fighting for marginal seats attracts the big guns
- By Adele Wyers
Following re-distributions, the two marginal seats of McMillan and Gippsland have seen several federal politicians frequent the Latrobe Valley to woo the voters for their respective candidates. more
McMillan
electorate map, source AEC
Gippsland
electorate map, source AEC
Higher education funding major election issue in La Trobe
By Jessica Stanley
The Coalition Government's decision to allow an increase of HECS fees by 25 per cent and abolition of GST exemption on textbooks may well affect the election outcome of the marginal seat of La Trobe in Victoria. more
La Trobe electorate map, source AEC
No Women's Room at Parliament House
By Robyn Scott
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced at close of nominations for the 2004 Federal Election there were 1421 candidates, of which 406 nominees are women. Although, 52 per cent of Australia's population are women, even if all candidates were elected the representation of women in parliament would be less than 30 per cent. more
On the Blog Trail
By Andrew Wrathall
Blog. It is not a swear word and it is not made up. It is a new piece of web technology that looks like a diary, but it is interactive; web users add their own comments. Blogs are popular in politics and allow anyone on the net to voice an opinion on daily events. With an election in the air, our politicians are embracing the trend. more
Jobs up in smoke over ban
By Nicole Jackson
Victorian pubs and clubs could soon be smoke-free with the Bracks government under pressure to follow Queensland's lead and ban smoking in all workplaces, causing anger and anxiety among many hotel owners. Nicole Jackson has more
Casual Workers A Key Election Issue
By Simone Daniels
The increasing level of casual employment in Australia has proved to be an issue of major difference between the Howard Government and the Australian Labor Party in the current federal election campaign. more
The Road to Winning Oxley
By Jo-Ann Sparrow
Frustrated motorists ground to a halt again today when
a car was overturned after an accident on the Ipswich Motorway. The
two-hour blockage near Goodna resulted in one woman being taken to
the nearby Ipswich Hospital.
In less than a week the
residents of Oxley electorate will have their chance to embrace or
reject the different solutions to Ipswich Road's congestion offered
by the Labor and Liberal parties. more
Bulk-Billing or Peace of Mind?
By Rebeka Vidic
Labor's proposal to increase bulk-billing rates may
prove to be impractical for some patients and their family doctors
who privately bill patients.
Some medical practitioners
argue that it is economically unfeasible to bulk bill and provide
all the services and make some profit from their practice under the
proposed Labor plan. more
Fight for the Murray
By Larriana Morgan
The Murray-Darling River system is looking to be a major environmental platform for both parties this election campaign. The ALP and the Coalition are pledging big sums of money to help the Murray River by increasing environmental water flows. more
Key Policy Overshadowed by Issues in Marginal Seats
By Greer McCracken
Labor Leader Mark Latham's announcement last week to include $64M in the federal budget to boost Asian language study in Australian schools and universities has barely rated a mention in any election commentary according to media monitor polls this week. more
Freeway Issue: Toll or No Toll
By Spiros Stratsianis
Despite a campaign based on 'No Tolls' for Scoresby
Freeway, Phil Barresi, Liberal MP for Deakin explained last Wednesday
why Liberals were not against road tolls... Barresi said by supporting
his 'No Tolls' campaign, Deakin citizens would tell the ALP
that the State government's back flip was
"unacceptable".
more
Latrobe cracks down on contamination
By Danielle van Doeselaar
Latrobe City Council is threatening to fine repeat
offenders who contaminate their recyclable waste. "A few
people are unfortunately placing everyone else's recycling efforts
at risk, either through ignorance or deliberate attempts to create
pollution, and we are determined that will not be the case,"
Latrobe City Council's Chief Executive Officer, Paul
Buckley, said. more
Frankston a Finalist in Global Award
By Kimberley Foster
Frankston is in the running to become one of the world's most liveable communities. The unlikely bayside town is a finalist in the UN-endorsed International Awards for Liveable Communities. more
Gippsland FM party to equip the community station
By Davina Swee Ying Liew
Gippsland FM will be holding a fundraiser-cum-family day on Sunday, November 21, to help equip the station better. With $18,000 put aside, the fundraiser is aimed at collecting an additional $7,000 to equip both Studio-1 and Studio-2 with new mixing panels at a price tag of $25,000. more