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One in ten gas wells leaking in Camden

When New South Wales Minister for Resources and Energy Anthony Roberts cancelled the three coal seam gas (CSG) exploration licences held by Leichardt Resources near Kandos, Nowra and Moree on October 14, he said it was because the company had failed to fulfil its licence conditions. The alleged compliance breaches included failure to engage with the community. Roberts had earlier complained that it was the previous Labor government that made it easy for 鈥渟peculators and cowboys鈥 to be granted licences without proper regulatory oversight.

Australia a 鈥榩aradise for white-collar criminals鈥

In Problems of Greater Britain, the English politician Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke concluded that high wages, cheap food and the time available for sporting and cultural activities made Australia a workers鈥 paradise. If Dilke鈥檚 observation in 1890 ever had any truth to it, it was a paradise soon lost. The average weekly wage did not recover from its fall in the 1891 depression until 20 years later. For the less skilled in the labour force, the 20% wage loss in the depression wasn鈥檛 clawed back until 1921.

Ireland: Gov't thrashed in by-elections as huge march protests water charges

Huge crowds demonstrated against water charges on the streets of Dublin's city centre on October 12 as voters delivered a stunning message of 鈥渘o confidence鈥 to the Fine Gael-Labour coalition government in two by-elections. Traffic in Dublin鈥檚 city centre came to a standstill due to the unprecedented scale of the anti-austerity march. About 100,000 people took part in the march, which took one hour and twenty minutes to pass the Spire in O鈥機onnell Street.

West Papua: Journalists to face trial

Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat, two French journalists arrested by Indonesian authorities on August 6 while reporting on West Papua's independence movement, will face trial on October 20, AFP reported on October 14. Despite a petition signed by more than 8800 people, the journalists will go on trial in a local court of West Papua for 鈥渁busive use of entry visas鈥.

Bolivia leads climate change fight

Bolivian President Evo Morales was re-elected for his third term on October 12 with more than 60% of the vote.

Melbourne councillor says heatwaves should be treated as emergencies

Heatwaves are still not considered an emergency by state governments, but they should be. There was a 24% increase in the number of deaths during the four day heatwave in Victoria in January. An additional 167 people died in the week of the heatwave when the temperature was above 41 degrees for four consecutive days in Melbourne and more than 45 degrees in other parts of the state. In 2009, there were an additional 374 deaths during the heatwave in the week before the Black Saturday bushfires.